Sarutobi Naruto: Konoha's All-Seeing Monkey
by Feeruk
Summary: After a beating that will leave him scarred for the rest of his life, Naruto is finally granted a blessing when the Sandaime takes him under his roof for protection. Having lived alongside 'The Professor' since he was 8 years old, how will Konoha's pariah be changed when granted knowledge and abilities he wouldn't normally possess? Full summary and warnings inside. NaruXAnkoXHarem.
1. One of a Kind

**Author's Notes**

_**The story title is a work in progress. I may end up changing it later.**_

**Warnings: ****Strong/intelligent Naruto (Sannin-level at story start.) Implanted Dojutsu. Natural Bloodline. Older Naruto (16). Possible minor crossover characters. Violence and language corresponding to the M rating. Sexual content. **

**Pairing: ****The current plan is for a harem with 5 – 7 women total. Anko will likely be the one with the most interaction, though I will try to keep it somewhat balanced. The women that will be within the harem will be confirmed in the Post-Chapter notes of Chapter 2.**

**Full Summary: ****After a beating that will leave him scarred for the rest of his life, Uzumaki Naruto is finally granted a blessing in his bleak life when the Sandaime takes him under his own roof for protection. **

**Living alongside the man renowned as 'The Professor' since he turned 8 years old, the blonde's natural talent for the shinobi arts is quickly discovered. With Sarutobi Hiruzen's daily guidance from such a young age, how will Konoha's pariah be changed? Will he still grow to become the savior that the world needs, or will his more realistic outlook on the world stop him from being able to fill the role that everyone needs him to? **

**Story starts at graduation. Conversations, thoughts, and occasional flashbacks will touch upon the events earlier events.**

* * *

**Sarutobi Naruto: Konoha's All-Seeing Monkey**

**Chapter 1: One of a Kind**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

A lone figure stood leaned against a shed in a small clearing on the outskirts of Konoha in the middle of the night. Though most people would have some level of difficulty seeing through the darkness, almost anyone could make out the outrageously orange clothing that they chose to wear.

Upon closer inspection, one would make out that the figure seemed to be no more than a mere boy – perhaps a fresh teenager at the oldest. He stood at roughly 4'8 in an orange tracksuit that had a bit of blue around the upper shoulders and waist. He also wore a pair of standard-issue blue shinobi sandals and had a kunai holster strapped around his right thigh over some bandages.

The most noteworthy features, however, would be his spikey blonde hair, whisker marks, and the ever-present cerulean blue eyes. Anyone that been within Konoha for any moderate length of time would be able to peg the boy as their resident pariah, one Uzumaki Naruto.

However, tonight was a bit different. Most individuals, on this night, would claim he was a traitor of the worst degree. They had good cause to believe this, unlike most of their other prejudiced thoughts on the boy, as the giant scroll he had latched onto his back was quite a valuable and powerful item. It was what was referred to in Konoha as the Forbidden Scroll – a scroll that held details on nearly all of Konoha's forbidden techniques.

Yet, despite the fact that he had seemingly stolen the scroll, Naruto seemed surprisingly calm. It was apparent that he either didn't know what he had done or merely didn't care about the repercussions that could follow. As his face portrayed nothing aside from boredom, something no one would find to be news-worthy for the boy who was constantly full of energy, it was quite difficult to tell exactly what he was feeling at that moment.

The boy's expression only changed when a new figure entered the clearing, slowly walking up to the boy from the side of the shed.

"Na-ru-to!" The figure stated with strain upon each syllable as the blonde turned to face him.

"Ahaha," he stated nervously as he reached a hand behind his head and scratched it in a manner that many would realize was a tick of sorts. "Found you, Iruka-sensei!"

"…BAKA!" The now-identified Iruka stated as he walked closer and slammed a fist playfully upon the blonde's head. "_I_ found _you!_"

'_He doesn't look scared to be found…nor does he look exhausted,' _the scarred Chunin thought as he gazed up and down the form of his favorite student. _'What in the Hell is he thinking?' _

"Naruto," he continued as he decided to put vocalization to his thoughts. "What are you doing out here? Why did you take the Forbidden Scroll?"

At this, the usual joy and happiness that the blonde held in his expression died down a bit as he opened his eyes and looked into Iruka's own.

"You'll find out in a second, sensei," he stated with more seriousness than the Chunin had ever heard from him before. He furrowed his brow for a brief moment as he digested the blonde's words. As he opened his mouth to speak again, however, he jolted his head to the left _just_ as a number of kunai nailed his clothes to the shed behind him with pinpoint precision.

"Ah, I see I got here just in time, eh Naruto?" came a voice that the pinned Chunin was all too familiar with. A moment later, and he could make out his silver-haired assistant crouched on a branch in a tree several yards away.

'_Mizuki! What's he…oh no…' _Iruka thought as he quickly glanced from the man to Naruto before trying to pull his right arm free to no avail.

"Yo, Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto said with his usual grin as he grabbed the giant scroll behind him and brought it up into his arms. "Got the Forbidden Scroll just like you told me. So, after this, I graduate right?"

Iruka's eyes finally shot open as the new information made him realize exactly what was going on.

"Naruto, don't list-" he began before Mizuki loudly tried to talk over him.

"You sure do Naruto!" the silver-haired man shouted as he jumped down from the branch and quickly walked towards the blonde. "Now, just give me the scroll and you're all finished."

"STOP!" the pinned Chunin screamed with a bit of desperation as he saw his orange-clad student walking towards the man he now realized was likely a traitor. "NARUTO, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

The blonde teen barely turned his head towards the man before continuing forward, wordlessly handing the scroll over to Mizuki as he came into contact with him.

'_NO!' _Iruka screamed mentally as he saw a dangerous glint in his assistant's eyes as he took the scroll. _'NONONONONO!' _

"NARUTO, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Iruka shouted as he finally managed to tear his right arm free from being pinned and quickly tore at the kunai still holding his legs. However, despite his hurried attempt at removing them, he kept his eyes locked onto what was happening as if he could stop it just by seeing it.

Thus, he saw when the blonde turned to him and cocked his head slightly to the side that Iruka recognized as his way of showing confusion. He also saw as Mizuki pulled out a kunai silently behind his unsuspecting student and poised it for a lethal strike on the blonde's neck.

Time seemed to slow for the scarred man, then, as he watched the knife descend towards a lethal vein in the boy's neck.

"NARUTO!" He screamed one last time…right before the knife plunged into his flesh and he saw the teen's cerulean blue eyes widen even as he reflexively reached a hand up to try to apply pressure to the wound.

Before his hands reached the area in question though, both Chunin's eyes widened as something quite unexpected occurred. The Naruto that had been directly in front of them a mere moment ago fell to his knees and…

_Poof!_

With a cloud of smoke, vision was obscured for a moment before things became clear again. They found themselves astonished, then, when the area was revealed to show 2 duplicates of the blonde lying face-first on the ground.

"What th-" Mizuki began to say before…

_Poof! Poof!_

The two men's eyes widened again as the two duplicates turned into smoke, revealing an empty field just a moment later.

'_Wh-what just happened?' _Iruka thought in shock before his eyes glared at Mizuki and he quickly moved back to trying to rip out the last few kunai keeping him secured to the shed.

"…A trick!" Mizuki stated upon realization that the blonde had seemingly bested him somehow. He quickly turned back to where he had laid the Forbidden Scroll before attempting to assassinate Konoha's pariah only to find himself nearly face-to-face with something he did _not_ want to encounter in this situation.

A white, porcelain mask.

He quickly stumbled back a few steps in shock, a lethal mistake if ever there was one, but the figure took no advantage of it. Quickly regaining his bearings, he glanced up at the mask and noticed that there was something substantially different about it than most masks that ANBU used around their village.

The mask was in the shape of a monkey with circular ears at the sides, though it possessed no distinguishing features. The only unique thing about the mask compared to most ANBU models was that that a small portion of the bottom of it had been cut out where the wearer's mouth would be with small pieces of porcelain framing it on the sides.

Seeing such a mask had Mizuki a bit spooked, but he quickly realized that ANBU agents weren't permitted to modify standard-issue masks. The man in front of him, whoever he was, wasn't a real ANBU agent – a fact that bolstered his confidence considerably as he took in the figure's appearance.

They stood at 5'8, right around the same height as his own. They were also equipped with mostly standard-issue Chunin/Jonin gear. They had a pair of black pants taped along the bottom to avoid the possibility of snagging the hem on a branch as they ran with a kunai holster strapped to his right leg, a long-sleeved black shirt that fell to their wrists, and a standard flak jacket atop the shirt.

However some of their attire deviated from the norm as well. They wore a pair of black shin-guards that resembled the ANBU-style model most agents wore, though his in particular had an engraving in the center of each one that others did not. Said shin-guards also had a plate draped over the bridge of each of his close-toed boots that covered up most of the white tape wrapping along his shins.

On his hands were black hand-guards that strapped around his palms with what was presumably an elastic band and tied with string around each of his middle fingers – something that was often replaced with metal-backed gloves nowadays. Finally, finishing off the variations was the fact that the collar of his shirt seemed to have additional black cloth sewed seamlessly onto it to create a skin-tight black mask that they could pull up if desired. Said mask _was_ currently pulled up to hide the small portion of their face that the porcelain mask would've left exposed.

Finally, the last of the man's features was his spikey blonde hair and his eyes. Blonde, spikey hair stuck up from behind the mask with a lengthy braid in the back tied off with a small orange cloth swaying in the wind that swept through the clearing. While Mizuki didn't particularly care about the man's hairstyle in his current situation…their eyes unnerved him a great deal. He could easily make out the pupil-less white eyes within the holes that were cut out of the porcelain – the trademark appearance of the Byakugan.

'_Fuck!' _Mizuki thought as he grit his teeth and slid into a defensive Taijutsu stance and noticed his hands were shaking. _'Fuckfuckfuck! It wasn't supposed to go like this! There's no way I'm getting away if this guy's a Hyuga.'_

"Mizuki," the figure stated with what both Chunin in the clearing could almost _feel_ was a fair amount of condescension. "It would seem that you're guilty of attempting to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Konoha – a crime punishable by death. Is it safe to assume that you don't want to come quietly?"

In response, the Chunin merely reached backwards slowly to grab one of the Fuma shuriken that was on his back. After a moment, he began to quickly spin it in a menacing fashion on his right hand.

"Very well," the masked man stated with a neutral tone as his hand twitched to his kunai holster and flicked it open thoughtlessly as he slowly slid a finger through one of the ends of the utensils held within. "I need to see if I can use this effectively in combat anyway."

With nothing further needing to be said, Muzuki rushed forward with a roar even as Iruka stood off to the side after finally pulling out the last of the kunai pinning him down. He elected to merely wait for an opportunity to jump in as he didn't want to get in the way of the masked man.

However, any intention on joining the fight ceased as his eyes locked onto the kunai that the unidentified man finally pulled out of his holster in entirety. His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he saw the slightly elongated handle with a few kanji written along the length as well as the main blade being accompanied on either side by a slightly smaller blade.

Mizuki, however, continued rushing forward as he didn't have a good angle to see the weapon. He did, however, twitch and deflect the unknowingly modified kunai with his weapon of choice after the man threw it towards him. With a _clang_, it reflected weakly back towards the masked man for a few feet before gravity began taking effect.

'_As if I'd be hit by a simple ku…nai,'_ the Chunin thought as he saw the figure in front of him disappear, re-appear right next to the descending weapon in front of him, and thrust it forward without hesitation after snagging it effortlessly out of the air. Feeling a foreign sensation plunge into his flesh even through his flak jacket a moment later, he looked down and saw the elongated handle sticking out from his heart. The fuma shuriken he had been spinning quickly dropped into the ground with a _thunk _as his muscles stopped responding due to his disbelief at the situation. As the pain finally caught up to him, the silver-haired man quickly dropped to his knees even as his heart tried in vain to keep beating despite being pierced.

Looking up, he saw the figure that had inevitably brought about his death directly in front of him. Even as his breath grew a bit raspy, they looked down on him with eyes that _still_ unnerved him at his core even as blood started trickling down his chest from around the deadly weapon lodged there.

"You're a fool for betraying the village," the man said with obvious disdain towards the Chunin. "I was forced to read your file quite some time ago when you became a suspected traitor. You had a happy life, a cushiony job, and even a lovely woman as a girlfriend from what I understand. Yet, despite that, you would throw _all_ it away for your greed and lust for power."

Developing a mild tick above his brow at the man's harsh words despite his weakening body, Mizuki found the energy to look up at him and spit - an action which the masked man did nothing to try to avoid as it hit his flak jacket.

"Fuck…you…" the silver-haired shinobi stated weakly as he coughed and blood started running freely down his chin. "I…was helping…this fucking village…even as I…betrayed it." His words came slowly as he panted like he wasn't receiving enough oxygen.

"Ah, yes," the figure stated as if he already had an idea of his plan. "You mean by killing the 'Demon Brat' before you went to Orochimaru, right?" The man took the dignity to use air quotes with his fingers as if disagreeing with the name most villagers addressed Naruto with – a fact that caused Iruka respect for the unknown man to bump up several notches.

"Damn…right…" Mizuki said as he smiled wickedly up towards his mask. "That demon…doesn't deserve to live. The…Sandaime has…gone senile…in his old…age."

Silence reigned in the area for a few long moments among the three vested individuals.

"…Well I suppose that makes this moment a bit sweeter then," the figure responded before promptly reaching a hand up, grabbing the monkey mask, and promptly pulling it off from his face. Taking his time, he clipped the mask to a small, unseen hook that was on his belt.

However, there was no drastic reaction to the exposed flesh until the figure then reached up and slowly pulled down the black cloth that looked eerily similar to one Hatake Kakashi's own. As the rest of his face became exposed, Iruka's jaw dropped and even Mizuki's eyes widened substantially at the familiar marks on either of the boy's cheeks – whisker marks to be precise.

"Surprise," the blonde said the moment the mask had exposed his most distinguishing feature.

"Naruto?!" Iruka called out questioningly as he finally drew closer to the two men in the clearing since the fight was clearly over.

Turning, the blonde directed his gaze momentarily to the scarred Chunin as his lips stretched slightly into a small smile.

"Iruka-sensei," he acknowledged briefly with a nod before his smile faded and he a cold gaze back towards Mizuki. This allowed the academy instructor to get a good look at his student's face.

The boy's usual cerulean blue eyes were replaced by the cold, white, pupil-less eyes of the stoic Hyuga clan. While that alone made a _drastic_ difference in the boy's usual appearance, there was also the fact that he had two rather sizable scars across his face to give him a bit more of a rugged look. The first was a long scar that went vertically from his scalp down to his jawline while traveling directly over his left eye. The second traveled from roughly the center of his forehead in a diagonal slash across his right eye and down to the middle of his cheek before coming to a stop.

Then, of course, there was how his hair appeared to have grown a great deal in the few short hours since the Chunin had last seen him. The back of his hair dropped to the middle of his shoulder-blades in a sizable but simple braid while two lengthy bangs framed his face in a fashion almost identical to the Yondaime's hairstyle. The alterations seemed to highlight his face a bit more than usual and made him seem a bit wilder in appearance compared to what Iruka had come to expect

'_Man, if he'd just cut a bit of hair off of the back he'd look almost __**exactly**__ like…!' _Iruka thought before he stored that thought away to bring up a bit later and turned his attention back towards what was going on in front of him since his eyes caught movement.

With no visible hesitation, Naruto walked up to Mizuki and gripped the handle of the tri-pronged kunai before ripping it viciously out of his chest as blood sprayed across his chest from Mizuki's now-gaping chest wound. After the initial spurt, the crimson liquid quickly poured down the man's vest as he swayed on his knees from the blood loss for a moment before falling face-first into the grass. The blonde, however, merely wiped his kunai off on his pants before depositing it back into his holster.

"…This isn't my first kill," Naruto stated as if sensing the question or comment that Iruka was about to ask that moment. "No need to give me the usual speech or coddle me."

Without saying a word, Naruto reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out a small, square container. Flipping open the metal lid, he quickly slid out a cigarette that was held within it and placed it between his lips before snapping it shut and putting it away. Then, he reached into one of his vest pockets and withdrew a metal lighter. Flipping it open with a drastic flick of the wrist, he lit the cigarette with the ease of a long-time smoker. After tucking the device away, he took a long drag on the tobacco-filled stick that he had been craving for several hours now.

Exhaling the smoke he had inhaled a moment later, he turned to his instructor who seemed to still be in a state of shock, though there was small gleam in the man's eyes that told the blonde he was about to try to chastise him.

"Old enough to kill, old enough to smoke _sensei_," he finished with a bit of a teasing tone before taking another drag. "…I imagine you have quite a few questions though, right?" Naruto asked after a lengthy pause while blowing out smoke again.

Not knowing what to say in response, Iruka merely nodded his head dumbly in response.

Returning the gesture with a nod of his own, Naruto then held out his cigarette to the man.

"Hold this for a second please," he stated more than asked. Though he was against smoking in most circumstances, the Chunin merely held it awkwardly and stepped away as his student gave him a gesture to tell him to back up.

Flipping through a series of hand seals at a speed that Iruka could barely follow, the blonde brought a single hand up in an 'o' shape to his mouth as he shouted his technique.

"**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" **(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu) Naruto shouted as a continuous stream of powerful flames came out of his mouth through the small ring his fingers formed and began incinerating the traitorous Chunin's body. After around 10 seconds, positive that the body would continue burning until it was ash, he called a halt to the intense flames.

Iruka, meanwhile, just chalked up the impressive display of elemental jutsu as another astonishing thing he had seen in the past few minutes. It seemed that his favorite student, for he knew absolutely _no one_ else with whisker marks on their cheeks, had suddenly jumped to Jonin skill or higher overnight. Not only that, but after seeing his new hairstyle, his modified kunai, and what he could've _sworn_ fit the description of the Hiraishin, he was quickly starting to get rather suspicious of the boy's lineage as well.

"Okay!" Naruto stated with a chipper tone that let the Chunin know that this _definitely_ wasn't the teen's first kill. "Let's go see the old man and I'll see if I can't answer a few of your questions. Good enough for you?"

"Y…Yeah," Iruka said shakily after a few moments as he wordlessly handed the stick of tobacco back to the teen.

"Alright then," the blonde shot back with a smile that crept across his face despite the cigarette he had placed between his lips again. "Hope you can keep up, Iruka-sensei," he stated before he promptly disappeared with a small cloud of smoke.

'_Shunshin too,' _the academy instructor thought in a moment of awe before he quickly formed the necessary hand seal and disappeared in a cloud of smoke of his own making. _'Exactly how far along __**are **__you, Naruto?' _

* * *

**(10 minutes later)**

Iruka stood formally in the office of the Sandaime at attention after having just arrived there a few moments ago while Naruto stood at his side with a slightly slouched posture – his cigarette having been discarded sometime before reaching the office.

"At ease, Iruka," the elderly Kage said from behind his desk with a small smile gracing his wrinkled face. "No need to be so formal for the time being."

"H-hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka stated as he allowed himself to slouch slightly and his eyes darted absent-mindedly to the portraits on the side of the room.

"Now," the elderly man stated as he pushed his hands together atop his desk and interlaced his fingers. "Why don't you go ahead and brief me on what you saw?"

"No real need for that Jiji," Naruto stated from the Chunin's side. "I wanted to test Hiraishin in combat and he saw it, so he definitely suspects something already…at least if the way he's staring at the portrait is any indication. I also know that you used that crystal ball of yours to see the whole thing. I trust him enough to let him in on this."

Iruka then snapped his gaze back to Naruto from where he had been staring at the Yondaime's portrait, digesting the words he had spoken and what they could mean.

"…Fair enough, I suppose," Hiruzen said as he directed a small smile towards the blonde for having caught him red-handed. "It's your secret to give as we discussed, so I won't stop you. However, Iruka, know that anything you hear tonight is regarded as an S-rank secret to everyone for the time being aside from Naruto until it is made public knowledge. I don't believe I have to tell you what that means?"

"N-no, Hokage-sama," the scarred Chunin said as he felt a bit of sweat gather at his brow from the severity of how severe of a secret this was. Breaking an S-rank secret of the village, unless specifically given permission to, often resulted with the person never being seen again for one reason or another.

"So Iruka-sensei," Naruto stated as he turned toward the man as he let his expression show a bit of exhaustion that he had been hiding, "go ahead and ask your questions. I know you're curious, but it's pretty late, so try to keep it short please. I've been up for around forty-eight hours and would like to get some rest before tomorrow."

'_Easier said than done,' _the scarred man thought as he directed his gaze to the teenager. _'With all that I've seen tonight, I barely even know where to start.' _

"Right," Iruka finally stated aloud after a few moments of silence. "I'm guessing that _this_ is the real you?"

"It is," Naruto said with a sad smile as Iruka gestured at his current body. "I'd have to be horribly, _horribly_ malnourished to be as short as most people think I am at sixteen."

"S-sixteen?" Iruka asked with a slightly dumbfounded face.

"Yes," Naruto said with a deadpan as he looked the man straight in the eyes. "It even said so openly in my academy record. Failing three times will cause a _bit_ of an age discrepancy."

'…_Just a few hours ago I would've been surprised if he even knew what discrepancy meant,' _the Chunin thought as he had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at his lack of available information.

"Ah…haha," Iruka laughed nervously as he reached up and scratched his cheek. "Sorry, you just typically acted so much like some of the others that I guess I forgot."

The blonde merely let out a frustrated sigh as he shook his head.

"You aren't the only one, so I guess I can't get too upset," he grumbled.

"Uh," Iruka began somewhat nervously as he let his gaze slip over to the portrait of the Yondaime in the room. "So…am I right in thinking that you're the son of th-"

"Yes," Naruto stated before Iruka could even finish as his pupil-less white eyes drifted to the portrait on the wall and remained there while he continued. "The pariah of the village is the son of the hero of the same village. Ironic, especially considering that I had no choice in the matter."

'_So he definitely knows about the Kyubi then,' _Iruka thought after a moment before considering how to respond to the teen's question.

"I suppose it is a bit ironic," Iruka admitted as he felt a bit strange hearing any bitter words leave Naruto's mouth. "But, after tonight…I don't doubt that the village will eventually come to accept you Uzumaki Naruto like it always should have."

Allowing his eyes to slowly drift back to Iruka, and finding no sign of deceit in his words, Naruto let a smile slowly creep over his lips again.

"…I suppose that'll make you one of the rare few then," Naruto responded.

After a lengthy pause in conversation following that, Hiruzen decided to interject to get the conversation rolling forward again.

"So Iruka," he began in the same position as the last time he had spoken. "Do you think that young Naruto here is of a sufficient skill level to become a Genin now that you've seen him in action?"

Replaying the rather anti-climactic fight in his mind, the Chunin turned his gaze onto the Hokage with only a moment's silence and nodded.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, Hokage-sama," he stated briefly in addition to his gesture. "He may not be able to perform the **Bunshin no Jutsu** (Clone Technique), but I have no doubt in vouching that he can fulfill the requirements of any Genin. He's quite likely Jonin material in terms of combat potential…at least by my estimation."

"Good," the Sandaime stated with a knowing smile. "Then it sounds like I was of right mind when I promoted him to an un-official Genin quite some time ago. Naruto, your mission pay," he continued as he took out a large stack of Ryo and set them on top of his desk.

"Ahhh," Naruto stated as walked forward and picked up the bills and thumbed through them. "Nothing quite like the smell of easy A-rank mission pay."

"Wait, wait, wait," Iruka stated as he waved his arms from behind the blonde. "_How_ long has he been an un-official Genin?"

"A bit under three years, if memory serves," Naruto stated in the Sandaime's stead as thumbed through the Ryo he had been handed. "My current record is 30 C-ranks, 21 B-ranks, 4 A-ranks, and 1 S-rank mission," he said in a monotone voice as if repeating an answer to a question he was asked frequently.

"…You _cannot_ be serious!" The scarred man whispered harshly in an attempt to keep his voice down to a degree. "B-ranks, _A-ranks_, an _**S-rank?**_ No one as young as Naruto should have that sort of record!"

"I was a bit of a special exception," the blonde stated with a smile towards the academy instructor before he could continue venting his opinion at the elderly Kage. "My partner…let's just say they get a C-rank or better or they don't take a mission at all. Even a C-rank is testing their patience pretty severely. This was the first mission above a B-rank I was actually ever assigned. The other A-ranks and the one S-rank were upgraded for various reasons while out I was in the field."

The Chunin just looked towards the Sandaime who nodded in the affirmative, causing the scarred man to look towards his favorite student and simply shake his head in disbelief.

"This is just crazy…it's so hard to think that you're the same goofball that I've been teaching for years," he continued as he gazed at the boy.

"Iruka," the Sandaime interrupted as the two men shot their attention back towards him. "I know it's a bit difficult to believe, but I assure you that this is Naruto. Now, I would like you to finish the paperwork tonight to push through Naruto's _official_ graduation so that I may sign him into service before the team assignments are finalized tomorrow. In your report on the encounter with your assistant, omit that Naruto-kun here used the Hiraishin to defeat him and say that he used Kage Bunshin to get a lucky stab in on the traitor with one of his kunai. Make sure to also note that you left the body there after all was said and done. I will take the liberty of making a note on the report to say that ANBU disposed of the body upon arrival."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Iruka responded immediately.

"Superb," Hiruzen stated as he glanced at the two men in his office. "Now, it has been a long night and tomorrow is going to be a rather hectic day, so is there anything else you'd like to ask while we're in the safety of my office?"

"One final question, if you don't mind," Iruka asked as he turned his gaze towards Naruto who simply made a gesture for him to proceed. "…How'd you manage to attend the academy and do these missions at the same time? I saw Haruno-san hit you multiple times in class, so there was no way that it was just a combination of a Kage Bunshin and a Henge. It would've dispelled within the first part of the day."

"Ah," Naruto stated with a bit of relief when Iruka neglected to ask about his unnatural eyes and scars. "It was actually quite simple. The 'Naruto' that everyone came to know was a combination of two Kage Bunshin merged together and altered with the **Konbi Henge** (Combination Transformation). The technique actually physically changes the user's physical traits, so no one with a Byakugan or sensing abilities would be able to tell with certainty that it was a clone."

"As for how they survived being hit," the blonde continued after a moment of thinking how best to explain it, "you already know that the **Konbi Henge** merges the chakra of the two individuals who fuse and Kage Bunshins are no exception. Since they're overloaded with even more chakra than usual, they're able to withstand most physical blows, though getting punctured with a sharp object or blasted with some sort of elemental technique will still cause them to dispel. The only downfall is that their chakra control _sucks_ after their chakra merges, so they can't actually use most jutsu."

"So…all this time at the academy…" the Chunin lead on. "I was teaching…"

"A glorified Kage Bunshin who couldn't hold a candle to my real capabilities," Naruto stated with a bit of pride while neglecting to notice the tick mark growing over the man's right eye.

"So…all of the _ramen_ I bought for you …" the scarred man stated as he let a bit of his anger seep into his voice.

"Ah…haha," Naruto responded nervously as he finally noticed the man's angry appearance and realized where he was taking the conversation. "I'll…buy you a drink sometime?"

"NA-RU-TOOO!" Iruka yelled as he began trying to chase the blonde around the office in an attempt to bash him over the head.

Hiruzen, meanwhile, just chuckled silently and smiled at the scene despite how outrageous it was.

'_Ah Naruto, it's good to see that you still can be your old self every once in a while.' _

* * *

**(The Next Morning)**

Standing in front of a full-body mirror in his room in the Hokage mansion, Naruto had to suppress the urge to grin widely at himself.

He was clad in the same gear as the night before, albeit with a fresh set of clothes since the others had a moderate amount of blood on them. His monkey mask was clipped on his belt just beneath his flak jacket and the black, skin-tight half-mask was left hanging loosely around his neck for the time being. The only notable changes were a Konoha Hitai-ate tied firmly around his left bicep with a black cloth, an additional kunai holster over some bandages on his left leg as well as his right, and a beige supply pouch on each hip.

'_Today's finally the day,' _he told himself inwardly as he glanced at himself in the mirror again – having long gotten used to the 'freaky white eyes' as he used to call them. _'No more hiding myself from the very village I was born in.' _

"You really are the spitting image of your father," an elderly voice stated from the doorway to the spacious room he was in.

The blonde merely let a small smile stretch across his lips without turning towards the man as he fiddled with the strings attaching his hand-guards to the back of each hand.

"I know Jiji," he stated after a few moments. Finally turning towards him, he raised his arms to the sides and asked the question he had been wondering to himself about for the past fifteen minutes. "How do I look?"

Coming closer, Hiruzen reached out and grabbed Naruto by his shoulders as he looked up a few inches to make eye-contact.

"Like one of Konoha's finest shinobi," the elderly man answered with a warm smile. "And a splendid Hokage in the making."

Naruto simply gave a sad smile as he gazed slightly down into his surrogate grandfather's face in response. "You know that hasn't been my dream for a long time now," he stated with just a touch of sadness in the tone.

"I know," Hiruzen stated with a small sigh before he reached up and ruffled the teen's hair despite the five inches the blonde had over him. "It certainly doesn't stop me from hoping that you'll take up the mantle one day though. I'd like at least _one_ of those I taught to be willing to should the need arise."

Naruto merely turned his gaze away from the elderly man as he felt a fair amount of guilt well up in the pit of his stomach.

"Naruto," the Sarutobi clan head stated as he noticed what he had done. "Don't feel guilty at the words of a sentimental old man. If _anyone_ has the right to turn down the mantle, it would be you. You have given more than your fair share for Konoha."

Returning his gaze to the man's eyes slowly, the blonde gave a nod in acknowledgement but otherwise remained silent.

"Do you have all of your things?" Hiruzen asked as he noted that the room looked relatively barren aside from a large scroll sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Ah, yeah," Naruto responded as he turned and looked at the room he had grown to view as his own with a smile. "I'm definitely gonna miss the place though."

"Well you're hardly forbidden from ever coming back again," the Sandaime stated in a friendly tone. "You know that my door will always be open to you should you need my help."

Suddenly, Hiruzen found himself wrapped in a rather fierce hug by the boy in front of him – something he returned without hesitation as he pat the boy on the back.

"Thank you," Naruto said simply as he cleared his throat and pulled away after a few moments. "I could never repay you for everything you've done for me Jiji."

"No Naruto," Hiruzen stated as he looked the boy in his eyes again with a genuine smile adorning his aged face. "You've already repaid me by becoming a splendid shinobi and a splendid young man. There's nothing more I could ask for."

"…You're difficult to thank, you know that?" the blonde asked with a chuckle.

"I have been told that by many people, yes," the Sandaime responded with a wider smile pulling back his wrinkles a bit further.

"…Have you at least given thought to what I proposed last week?" Naruto asked after a pregnant pause, his nerves being obvious at asking the question to anyone who knew what to look for.

"…I have," Hiruzen responded as his eyes narrowed and he got a bit more serious. "Are you _absolutely certain_ you wish to go through with this? I'm more than happy to accept, but I don't want you to rush into this decision."

"If you would have me, then absolutely," Naruto responded immediately with a slight bow. "I love my parents despite the burden they've placed upon me, but as far as I'm concerned, you are as much my family as they are. While I'd like to carry on their clan names in my full name to preserve them, it would be a great honor to carry on the Sarutobi clan name as well."

Letting his serious expression soften back into what he would call 'grandfather mode,' Hiruzen gripped the boy's shoulder again and gave it another squeeze.

"..Then it is the Sarutobi clan's honor to accept you as one of our own, Sarutobi Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto."

"Thank you," Naruto said in a slightly shaky voice as he kept his head down to hide the tears that he knew were welling up in his eyes after hearing that. "Thank you, Sofu (grandfather). Just Sarutobi Naruto will do though, the whole thing is a mouthful," he continued mirthfully despite the emotional moment.

"You are welcome, Magomusuko (grandson)," Hiruzen replied with the widest smile he had given in years as he pushed back the tears that threatened to seep into his eyes. "You're right though," he admitted with mirth in his own voice, "it is quite the mouthful. However, you should be off soon. I won't stand for any member of my family being late on the day they're assigned to a team."

"Ah, right, sorry," Naruto stated as he reached a hand up and pinched the area over his eyes to try to not-so-subtly wipe away the tears that had welled there. "I just…got something in my eye."

"It happens to the best of us sometimes," Hiruzen admitted with a silent chuckle. "I'll bring it up at the council meeting while you're at the academy. Come by my office around seven in the evening or so if you're still in good shape. I've put aside a bit of time today, so we'll be able to visit your parent's estate together to get you settled in. Leave the scroll here by the way, I wouldn't want you to have to lug it around, especially since you might be visiting a bar or two."

"Hai," Naruto responded as he let a smile cross his face upon remembering the date. "I'll see you later tonight then, Sofu. Wish the best for me tonight."

With nothing further being said, the blonde formed a hand seal and disappeared in a small plume of smoke.

'_Ah Naruto,' _he thought wistfully with a small chuckle. _'Knowing how attached you two have gotten over the years despite your hidden identity, I doubt you'll need my best wishes.' _

* * *

**(5 minutes later)**

After having vanished in a Shunshin from the Hokage mansion, Naruto found himself frozen to a spot just outside of the academy gates despite how close he would be cutting it to showing up on time. He had been rooted to the spot for several minutes now with his hand held over the mask on his belt absent-mindedly.

For years, ever since he was 8 years old, he had lived behind a mask of his own creation while in public. In a way, he had grown used to the secrecy and security it gave him. Only a select few people ever knew that both he and Saru, the name he used while in his mask, were in fact the same individual.

Though his clone was the one interacting with them on a regular basis, the memory feedback it provided when he dispelled it made him _feel_ a relationship he had formed with his classmates despite his deception. Although he rather detested some of his clone's quirks, such as pursuing Haruno Sakura despite her obvious lack of interest in him romantically, he had to admit that it was fun to have colleagues near his own age. Choji, Kiba, and Shikamaru in particular were kids he felt he could view as good friends…but the question remained if they would feel the same about the real him. Most people wouldn't appreciate being deceived for years, after all.

There were others he thought could be friend material as well, though his clone had chosen not to interact with them a great deal. Shino and Sasuke both seemed respectable even if the later seemed to be a bit too focused on revenge for his liking. Even Ino seemed to be someone he could get along with, at least when she wasn't fawning over Sasuke and bowling him over to get to the Uchiha.

Then, of course, there was the final student on his mind – Hyuga Hinata. She obviously had a major crush on his clone, and subsequently his 'mask' of sorts. She could react any number of various ways to him announcing that it wasn't the real him, though he doubted her reaction would be too negative so long as he showed that he was still the same person…more or less.

The thought of the Hyuga princess, however, made him move his hand from his mask up to the scars on his face and trace over the one over his left eye. She was the cause, albeit indirectly and unintentionally, of both the best and worst events in his life.

'_I just need to stop thinking about this,' _the blonde finally told himself as he inhaled deeply and slowly let out his contained breath. _'I don't know what they're going to say until I get in there anyway. I just need to man up and do this.' _

He couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at the fact that he had used one of his partner's favorite phrases, but brushed it off and quickly proceeded inside. Thankfully the academy hallways were almost completely barren thanks to graduation the day beforehand. A few people still there handling paperwork would stare at him, but the Hitai-ate on his arm made sure they didn't stop him to ask for ID or any nonsense that would have delayed him even longer.

Pausing for a brief moment at the familiar door to Iruka's classroom, he smiled a bit as he reached for the handle to slide it open. He had debated briefly on pulling up the black mask around his neck, but discarded the idea as soon as it popped up. Today was about revealing his true self, not hiding behind yet more masks.

As he stepped into the spacious room and slid the door shut, one could nearly hear a pin drop. That could've been due to his entrance and the students silencing themselves to look at who the newcomer was, or judging by the way Iruka was standing in the front of the classroom with his clipboard, was most likely due to him using his patented jutsu to make his head larger and voice louder a few moments before he had come in.

"My apologies for being late, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said with a smile still touching his lips as the scarred Chunin looked over towards him.

"…I suppose I can forgive you _one_ more time after what happened with Mizuki," Iruka responded as the rest of the class grew intrigued at the mention of their missing sensei since they hadn't been informed on the matter. "Just find a seat Naruto."

As if the name were the button to a delayed explosive device, the class sat in stunned silence for a few moments before the noise level skyrocketed as students began whispering to one another and Kiba stood up from where he was with Akamaru on top of his head.

"Oi, no way this guy's Naruto!" the Inuzuka proclaimed as he slammed a hand onto the desk and pointed at him. "He actually looks respectable!"

'…_Why did I want to be friends with him again?' _Naruto asked himself even as he held out an exposed finger and allowed a solitary bug to land on it for a few moments before it quickly flew off again, unknowingly causing a teen in the back to widen his eyes slightly behind his sunglasses.

Many in the class were having similar thoughts with Kiba, though none actually vocalized them towards the teen or their sensei.

"QUIET!" Iruka yelled as the noise got to be a bit too much, though Kiba remained standing in his previous position. He merely glanced to the blonde in question who caught his eye and seemed to take the silent nudge he was trying to give him to speak.

"Well, you certainly aren't wrong Kiba. I haven't exactly looked like a respectable shinobi-in-training in the past. However, as should be apparent from how I've seemingly grown nearly a foot and put on substantial quantities of muscle over-night, there's a bit more to me than you're aware of."

"…Well now we know he isn't Naruto," Kiba continued with a laugh after shaking his head for a moment. "There's no way he could talk that good."

"'Well' or 'smoothly' would've been better words to use there dog-breath, but I digress," Naruto stated with a small smile upon seeing the Inuzuka heir grow confused upon having his grammar corrected. "The fact is that I'm Uzumaki Naruto," _'for now anyway'_ he added mentally before continuing, "and I'd like the chance to get to know all of you since I'm not obligated to hide certain parts of myself any longer. If you're willing to give me a chance, then I'd be honored to get to know you."

Upon giving a small incline of his head towards the others to show a bit of respect, he nodded towards Iruka before proceeding up the steps towards an empty seat next to Hinata. Many of the students found themselves debating whether or not the blonde was actually the Naruto they'd gotten to know, though a select few had confirmed the fact already.

"Wait," came a voice that he had just passed, causing him to turn and look down to the form of Sakura who was sitting next to Sasuke. "If you're Naruto, then how did you suddenly get eyes like Hinata's?"

"…You're certainly rather straight-forward for issues that could easily be considered touchy for most people, Sakura-san," Naruto stated in a voice stern enough to make her and several others flinch. "To answer your question, I'm sure someone as intelligent as yourself is familiar with the eye-for-an-eye clause in Konoha's founding laws, yes?"

"Y-yes," she stuttered slightly due to the surprise of not hearing someone claiming to be Naruto referring to her with a great deal of adoration in their voice. "It…it states that someone that can undoubtedly prove they were wronged by someone can take equal compensation from them."

"Right in one," he responded emotionlessly before turning and continuing to walk up the stairs while leaving the pink-haired girl and the rest of the class to think on what exactly he meant.

"Yo, Hinata," Naruto stated somewhat warmly as he approached the desk that was empty aside from herself in the center. "Is it alright if I sit here?"

The girl, who had been staring _intently_ at his face up until he got close enough to the desk to make her realize he was going to sit next to her, merely pushed her fingers together nervously and nodded with a slight blush adorning her cheeks.

'_Is…is this really Naruto-kun?' _she asked herself while stealing glances from the corner of her eyes as he sat in the chair and leaned forward onto the desk. _'He's just so…different.' _

"You know," Naruto whispered as he leaned over slightly and nudged Hinata's elbow with his own. "If you don't believe me, you could always activate your Byakugan and find out."

"A-ah…I didn't mean to…" she trailed off, obviously meaning to say that she didn't want to come across as rude.

"It's alright, I can't exactly blame you for not taking my word for it," the blonde shot back with a small smile. Not being able to resist any longer, a small and mischievous smile grew on his lips at his next train of thought. "I admit though, I am a _little_ hurt that my secret admirer doesn't believe me."

It took a few moments for Hinata to register what the blonde had said, but once she had done so, her entire face took a shade of red that indicated she was _dangerously_ close to feinting as she had done a few times in the past when around her crush.

'_Oh no, how did he find out?! I-I-I'm not ready for th- wait. Wait…this still might not be him," _the heiress told herself as her blush slowly died down. _'He gave me permission to look at him with the Byakugan, so I might as well take it.' _

Naruto watched with a fair amount of amusement as the teenage girl flipped through a series of hand seals under the desk before stopping and whispering "Byakugan" under her breath. As the veins around her temples began bulging out, her eyes widened as she looked at the blonde's chakra network.

Though her eyes weren't powerful enough to see Tenketsu, at least not yet, she was able to see his chakra network as any Hyuga could. Naruto's network had always been a bit… odd. There was the normal blue network that showed a capacity larger than any she had ever seen, but the important part was a small swirl in the middle of his stomach that held _red_ chakra instead of the normal blue coloration.

Her eyes went wide, then, because she saw said red swirl of chakra – nearly confirming without a doubt that this was Naruto since she hadn't seen any other individual with that irregularity.

'_It's him…IT'S HIM,'_ Hinata screamed inwardly as she slowly cut the chakra she was channeling to her eyes and found her cheeks heating up as the blonde's normal body started coming back into view. _'But…but that means…!' _

As she came back into her normal vision entirely, she hesitantly glanced up into her crush's eyes which were looking directly into her own – something that caused her blush to multiply two-fold.

"So? Do I pass, Hinata-_chan_?" Naruto whispered as he smiled and purposely put emphasis on the suffix to tease the girl.

For a moment, she looked like she might respond despite her face rivaling the shade of a tomato. However, despite her jaw opening and closing several times, her head quickly slumped forward as she feinted from embarrassment.

'_Ah…that felt a __**lot**__ better than it should have,' _Naruto thought to himself in a moment of amusement.

"Ok, next, Team seven!" Iruka stated loudly to quiet the murmuring of students that had picked up, causing the blonde to mentally smack himself for not having paid attention thus far.

"Your team will consist of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and U-" Iruka began to state before he was interrupted.

"Cha! Take that Ino-pig, true love conquers all!" Sakura shouted as she launched up from her seat and pointed towards her blonde rival.

"Gah!" Ino responded as she flung herself to a standing position and pointed towards her pink-haired rival in return. "This is a sham! You just wait forehead, I'll show Sasuke-kun who's better yet!"

The two girls, seemingly having gotten their pieces out, sat back down after that – one with a small frown and the other with a bit of a smile on their lips as they felt victorious.

"Right, as I _was_ saying," Iruka continued smoothly after they had quieted down. "You two will be paired with Uzumaki Naruto. Your Jonin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi."

A lengthy silence followed where most students were waiting for the blonde's reaction…which they only received _just_ before Iruka was about to continue.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Naruto rolled out, not even stuttering as he was hit in the head with a piece of chalk from Iruka to try and stop him from swearing completely. He didn't even pay attention when most of the other students turned and openly stared at him after the small outburst.

"Naruto-baka!" Sakura shouted as she stood up in defense of who she thought he had insulted. "Don't get upset just because you're on a team with me and Sasuke-kun!"

"Who says I'm upset about that?" Naruto questioned in response, causing the pink-haired girl to flinch slightly again at the lack of adoration in his tone. "I don't have problems with you or Sasuke on the team, it's our Jonin sensei who I'm not excited about."

Sasuke, who had been thinking on the blonde's changes ever since he first laid eyes upon him when he walked into the classroom, merely furrowed his brow at hearing that. He was going to ask the blonde about the man who would be teaching him, but he was stopped by Iruka clearing his throat rather forcefully at the front of the class.

"If you're quite finished?" The scarred Chunin asked with a glance towards Sakura and Naruto, getting a sheepish response from the pink-haired girl and dismissive wave of the hand from the blonde. "Team eight will consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuga Hinata. Your sensei will be Yūhi Kurenai. Team nine are still active Genin from last year, so we're skipping that one. Team ten will consist of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

"…I vote to trade sensei with Team ten, how about it guys?" Naruto called from his spot as Hinata finally began to stir, though not enough for her to have heard her team assignment. Ino was too busy repeatedly banging her forehead on her desk to hear his offer, Shikamaru was seemingly taking a nap and not bothering to answer, and Choji seemed too intrigued with a snack he had brought in to bother responding.

"You know that isn't feasible anyway, Naruto," Iruka said at the front with an exasperated sigh. "Unless you're questioning the wisdom of the Sandaime, that is?"

"If he made Kakashi my sensei, then yes I am," the blonde shot back in a deadpan voice as he stared Iruka directly in the eyes and earned a few wide eyes from some people in the class upon saying that so casually.

"Come on Naruto, he isn't _that_ bad," the Chunin shot back as he thought of the bad traits the man had shown over the years.

"Yeah Naruto, I'm not _**that**_ bad," came a voice from directly behind the blonde as a familiar masked face rose up from the floor.

"K-K-Kakashi?" Iruka asked from the ground floor as he stared up and quickly glanced back to the clock behind him. "You're…you're…"

"…I'm not that bad about being on time, am I?" The masked Jonin asked as he tapped Naruto on the shoulder. He merely sweat dropped when the boy turned slowly towards him with a deadpan stare. Salvation from the situation came, however, when the door to the classroom slid open to reveal a pair of Jonin in the doorway.

"Team ten, meet me at the gate in five minutes," came the voice of Sarutobi Asuma who took a quick glance of the room and had to grin at seeing a familiar spikey blonde hairstyle at the top. "Good to see you're finally yourself by the way, Naruto," he added before stepping back and heading outside of the academy once again.

"Team eight, meet in the classroom across the hall," came the voice of Yūhi Kurenai as she glanced towards the students after poking her head into the room. Her eyes shot to the still-stirring form of Hinata before she promptly exited without another word.

"Ah, I suppose that's my queue then," Kakashi stated from the same position as before as all of the student looked towards him. "Team seven, meet me on the roof. Naruto, I know it will be difficult for you, but try not to let any ladies distract you on the way up there~."

Within a moment's notice, Naruto had withdrawn one of his tri-pronged kunai and tossed it backwards at the man. While many of the students went wide-eyed at the blatant attempt at harming a Jonin, Kakashi merely side-stepped the weapon before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

'_I swear to Kami, I'm going to kick his ass during his stupid test,' _the blonde thought as he stood up and walked to the kunai that had embedded itself slightly into the wall. _'Always teasing me about women. I swear, I wish I had never asked him for advice.' _

Turning around to see Shino gently waking up Hinata out of the mild stupor she was still in and seeing everyone looking at him after his most recent display, he tore the kunai easily out of the wall and let out a loud sigh.

'_One small step at a time Naruto,' _he told himself while forming a hand seal. _'Just get to the roof and handle any damage control later.' _With a small plume of smoke, and a mild glare from a certain Uchiha at the display, the blonde vanished from the classroom.

* * *

**(A moment later)**

"Alright Kakashi," Naruto stated the moment he appeared on the roof in a small swirl of leaves, "I'm assuming you're a Kage Bunshin?"

"Hm?" Kakashi asked from against the railing along the roof as he was nose-deep in his favorite Icha Icha novel. "Sorry Naruto, you say something?"

"…Hilarious," the blonde commented sarcastically at the Jonin's frequent 'joke.' "Seriously, this is just the whole schpeal about the real Genin test and dropping a hint about it being teamwork, right?"

"Pretty much, yup," the masked Jonin stated without taking his eyes away from the book as he flipped a page. "Just make a Kage Bunshin to leave here or something so your teammates don't get suspicious. Be at the Third Training Grounds tomorrow at 6 in the morning, don't eat breakfast, etc…"

"Super, thanks," Naruto responded as he made a quick hand seal. **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," **he stated calmly, causing a small plume of smoke to appear next to him before revealing an identical copy of him. Giving a mental command for it to stay on the roof, he was about to use another Shunshin to disappear before Kakashi's voice stopped him momentarily.

"Tell Anko I said 'Happy Birthday' if you'd be so kind," he stated while having enough courtesy to make brief eye contact with the blonde as he eye-smiled at him. "…and good luck."

"…I'll do that, and thanks," Naruto responded with a smile before disappearing with a quick use of the Shunshin.

* * *

**(20 minutes later)**

'_Well…now or never I guess,' _Naruto thought as he stood in front of Anko's apartment door in semi-casual clothes which really just meant that he had sealed his flak jacket, supply pouches, and kunai holsters into a small storage scroll he kept on his person at all times. However, despite that fact that he was in his casual garb, he had pulled the cloth mask back up and dawned his monkey mask once again. Though he had no desire to wear it any longer, he would dawn it this one last time in front of her.

Reaching forward, he knocked on the door even as he shifted the small scroll he held in his left hand around a bit for comfort.

_Thud_

'_Heh, must've started celebrating a bit early,' _the blonde thought to himself with a sad smile growing underneath his mask. _'Probably didn't expect to hear from me after three months of no contact, after all.' _

"One sec!" He heard come through the door in a typical groggy morning voice. It took a bit, but eventually there were a series of soft _thumps_ getting closer to the door that signaled her approach. A moment later, the door swung inward to reveal his partner ever since he had become an un-official Genin – Mitarashi Anko.

While she was normally clad in a trench coat, mesh, and a skirt, she was currently in much more comfortable clothing that he knew likely functioned as her sleepwear. She wore a simple purple belly-shirt that hugged her curves quite tightly and a pair of shorts that fell to _just_ above her knees. Her hair, usually pulled back and tied in a fan-shape behind her, was currently down and ruffled enough to show she had been sleeping quite recently.

"Morning Hebi-hime," Naruto stated with obvious mirth in his voice, causing the newly-promoted Jonin's eyes to snap open a bit more as her face twitched in a way that let him know that she was suppressing a smile.

"Hey Saru, couldn't have waited until noonish? Even I need my beauty sleep you know." Anko stated as she opened the door further and beckoned him inside without hesitation, closing it immediately after he had stepped inside to block off the sun that had been shining into the apartment.

"Bah, I doubt you can get any more beautiful than you are anyway Anko," Naruto stated with a dismissive wave of his hand even as his cheeks blushed a little under his mask at his sincere compliment. He often bantered and flirted back and forth with her over the past few years, but he had grown to eventually have genuine feelings for her – something he had confessed only to Hiruzen and Kakashi. Anko may have also grown to suspect it, but he was uncertain of that.

"Well, flattery is certainly a good starting point to not getting stabbed for waking me up this early," the violet-haired woman said with a smile as she ran her hands over her eyes to wake herself up a bit quicker. "So, we finally got a mission or something?"

Though to most her voice would come across as neutral, Naruto had grown to know her well enough to notice the slight pang of hope within her tone. Aside from missions, he was rarely granted time to actually spend time with her. Her previous two birthdays and perhaps a dozen other cases were all that he could really think of. He smiled, knowing what he would say next would likely make her day.

"Oh come on," he stated teasingly as he turned around in the one-bedroom apartment and looked down a few inches into her eyes with a warm gaze. "It's your birthday. I'm here to spend some time with you if you're free. Kakashi sends his regards, by the way."

In response to his statement, he was granted with a rare sight – a genuine smile from what was likely the toughest woman within the village walls.

"Did he now?" She asked as she walked towards her kitchen. "I think the two of us burning his porn collection last year may have made sure he remembered to say something this year."

"It's certainly a possibility," the blonde admitted with a soft chuckle as he looked around the place again. It wasn't much, but that was mostly due to people not wanting to deal with someone who had once been affiliated with Orochimaru regardless of how dedicated to the village she was. That…and she had a rather nasty habit of spending a good portion of her pay on sweets and alcohol.

The entrance of her apartment actually served as the area where she kept her bed, though he knew from past conversation that it was so she would have a better chance of hearing anyone messing with her door or apartment in general. With that tucked into the corner, there was a loveseat, a small coffee table in front of it, and a small television in front of both of those that served as her dining area in the same room. Then, the room opened immediately into the kitchen in one direction and a small hallway that led to her closet and bathroom in the other.

"You want something to drink?" Anko asked as he snapped out of inspecting her apartment, turning towards the small kitchen area.

"Tea would be good if you're willing to make some," he responded.

"Kay," she shot back before yawning as she brought out a pot and began filling it with water. "So, I gotta ask, what's in the scroll?"

"Two of your gifts," he responded with a smile as he saw her flinch slightly upon hearing the word and open her mouth to say something. "And yes, I'm aware I didn't _have_ to get you anything. I did so out of the kindness of this heart of mine," he finished with a poke to his own chest.

Whatever the woman had been planning to say seemingly died in her throat as she closed her mouth and chuckled silently.

"…You know, there's something about hearing that from a man you've seen kill at least a hundred people that makes it _slightly_ less effective," she shot back in a teasing tone of voice.

"Harsh words from the woman who never wants to bother with the small fry herself," he shot back in a similar tone. "My kill count might not be so high if you didn't take most of the stronger enemies."

"Ah…got me there," she admitted as she put the filled kettle onto her low-quality electric stove and turned it on. Turning, she eyed the scroll excitedly as she barely looked to be restraining herself from jittering.

"Here," the blonde stated with a grin as he handed it over without further delay.

Not wasting any time, the woman took the scroll, walked over to her coffee table, and rolled open the scroll even as he sat down on the small loveseat. Seeing two storage seals, she raised her eyebrows slightly in interest as she channeled a bit of chakra into the first one. With a plume of smoke, a pile of ten boxes appeared. Taking the top one and inadvertently taking in a breath while holding it, she nearly tore off the lid as her favorite scent hit her in full force.

"Dango!" She exclaimed as she happily picked up one of the 5 sticks within and took a bite, noting that they were still quite hot. Her eyes shot open at a familiar taste that she only got once a year as she shot a questioning gaze towards her blonde partner.

"I paid the owner of the bar to get his hands on some of his festival spices to make some for you. I know how much you love the stuff," Naruto explained as he took a seat on the other end of her loveseat. "You've got fifty sticks of the stuff total there."

"Shooo gooood," the violet-haired woman stated as she took another bite and sent her thanks for the gift as best she could through her gaze alone.

"I'll seal the rest of these for now to keep them warm," Naruto stated as he reached out and quickly sealed the other 9 boxes back into the scroll. "I think you'll like the next one even better though."

"Fat chance," the violet-haired woman stated as she tossed an empty stick into the box where 4 fresh sticks of her favorite food still remained and moved it onto the table instead of on the scroll. "I can't really think of anything…else…that…" she trailed off as she unsealed the next item and saw 5 large bottles atop the scroll – each showing the symbol of Mount Myobōku.

"No way," she said as she grasped one of the corked bottles and gazed over at him with a bit of awe. "Is this…?"

"Mount Myobōku Fire Sake?" Naruto asked. "Why yes, yes it is. Five bottles of the stuff no less. All of which came from blackmailing Jiraiya of the Sannin to sneak some bottles away from Gamabunta and causing him some bodily harm in the process."

"That…that's fucking amazing," she stated as she uncorked one of the bottles and took a small sip, closing her eyes harshly as it slid down her throat. "Holy shit that stuff is _strong_!" she said before turning her head away

"…It _is_ called Fire Sake for a reason, you know," he teased.

"Oh shut up, ass," she shot back after the burning sensation in her throat died down though there was no real venom in the words. On top of that, the look she gave him once again tried to convey a great amount of thanks despite what she had just said.

"Nah, that's no fun," he responded with a laugh. "You're welcome though, I imagine you probably went through most of your normal sake supply last night and early this morning."

"Haha…yeah," she admitted as she scratched her cheek and grinned and her eyes lost a bit of their normal playfulness. "Kurenai had plans with Asuma today so…I wasn't exactly expecting anyone since you've gone for the past three months."

"Sorry about that, by the way," he stated with sincerity even as she gave it a dismissive wave.

"Nothing you could do about it. It was probably the Sandaime's orders anyway. At least you let me know ahead of time that I wouldn't see you for a while."

"True," he stated as he purposely tried to avoid thinking about how disheartened she had looked when he broke the news about being gone for so long. "Still, I figure I've got a way to make it up to you."

"…You mean _other_ than my absolute favorite food and a drink so rare that the Fire Daimyo has difficulty getting his hands on it?" The Jonin asked with a chuckle as she looked into his eyes through the mask. "You got Orochimaru's head in another scroll or something?"

"Ah, 'fraid not," he responded in a sad tone. "One day hopefully, but I couldn't get my hands on that just yet. I think you once told me that it was the one thing you wanted _almost_ as much as killing him though."

After finishing, the blonde had to struggle not to chuckle at seeing Anko's eyes widen to the size of saucers even as she shakily put the sizable bottle of sake down. However, the moment was somewhat ruined when the kettle in the kitchen started whistling, causing the woman to flick her gaze in that direction and curse softly under her breath.

"Be right back," she stated as she stood up and walked into the kitchen.

'_I wonder what she'll think…' _the blonde wondered idly as his mind drifted through the various scenarios he had thought of multiple times in the past. _'Eh, whatever. At least she won't call me ass-face when she's drunk anymore…hopefully.' _

"Here," Anko stated roughly a minute later as she laid a ceramic cup on the coffee table with a teabag sticking out of the side and a matching cup on her side of the table as she took a seat next to him again.

"Thanks," Naruto responded with a smile, seeing her barely contained excitement at what he had offered before. "So before your kitchen appliance ruined the moment, I was making you an offer to see my face," he stated bluntly as he turned his head just enough to see her reaction.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered as she swallowed heavily. "You…you'd finally let me see it?"

"…I was only hiding it before because of what people in the village would do if they knew my identity, Anko. I wasn't lying back when we were first partnered when I said our stories weren't _all_ that different."

The young woman's mind started racing with possibilities of who he could be at hearing that, though only one possibility came to her mind. She merely nodded to give the blonde the sign to continue.

"The reason that I was gone for three months was simply to try and learn a technique that would make me powerful enough to stand against the vast majority of enemies so that it wouldn't matter if people figured out exactly _who_ I was. I was somewhat successful, so I got permission to reveal the information to who I wanted, but it won't be a public announcement for now."

"…What was the technique?" The woman asked with a quirked brow, knowing that techniques that could make someone that powerful were quite rare.

In response, the blonde merely reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out another small scroll before unrolling it to reveal a single seal in the center of it. Putting his hand over it, he brought forth a single tri-pronged kunai and dangled it from his finger.

"I know I told you that I used these solely due to their irregularity and make it easier to injure enemies, but that wasn't the _entire_ truth. While I did initially use them for that reason, the Sandaime also thought it would be a good idea to have me be used to using them for when I eventually got around to mastering my father's signature technique."

"…N-no fuckin' way!" Anko nearly sputtered as her eyes widened in realization. "You're the son of the Yondaime?!"

"Yes, but that stays between the two of us and a select few others for now," Naruto responded in a serious tone. "I don't want people treating me differently just because I'm someone's kid."

Anko's eyes alone seemed to convey a new respect for him upon hearing that as he stored his kunai away in the scroll again and pocketed it once more.

"Now, as for who I _actually_ am…" Naruto stated as he turned his gaze to her and he could see that she looked like a mix of emotions. Nervousness, excitement, and a small bit of disbelief were all evident in her facial expression.

He reached his hand up to grab at his mask, but was quickly stopped as Anko reached out and snagged it _just_ before he touched it. Her action caused him to frown momentarily, but what she said a moment later turned it back into a small smile.

"Wait...I want to do this myself. Please?" she asked with a voice that nearly sounded as if it were pleading with him. Normally he would tease her for that a bit, but he simply nodded instead as he took his hand away.

He watched, then, as the violet-haired Jonin reached two shaky hands out and grabbed the sides of his porcelain mask before pulling it directly away from his skin.

A moment of silence followed as she held the mask absent-mindedly in her hands and drank in the sight of some of his exposed face for the first time.

"…I never knew you had scars," she stated a few moments later as she dropped the mask onto the floor without a second thought and reached out to touch him. Her hands then touched and traced part of the vertical mark as a mild blush rose up onto both of their cheeks at the shared contact.

"You never really asked if I had any, to be fair," he responded as he successfully suppressed the urge to flinch at the mention of the permanent marks on his flesh. "Any guess as to what my real name is yet from what you can see?"

"…One," she admitted with a slight furrow of her brow as she continued to absent-mindedly trace over his scar. "It's only because of how your hair is though, to be honest. I can only think of one person with spikey blonde hair like that in the entire village."

"Oh?" He asked as he closed his left eye as she traced over it, causing him to smile underneath the last bit of cloth hiding his face from her at receiving so much attention from her. "Care to take a guess first or pull down the mask and see if you're right?"

"…The Uzumaki kid?" She asked uncertainly as she pulled her hands away to stare into his pupil-less white eyes.

Instead of answering, he signaled for her to pull down the mask with one of his fingers, causing her to slowly pull it down to his neck and reveal the unique whisker marks that only he had ever possessed.

"Nice to finally see you face-to-face, Ank-" He found himself cut-off as said woman leaned in quickly and pressed her lips gently against his own as a shiver traveled through his body like he had been shocked.

"S-sorry," she stated nervously as she pulled away with a blush. "I promised myself I would do that whenever I finally got to see your face."

"It…it's alright," he responded with a burning sensation that he knew was a blush on his own cheeks from the gesture he had only dreamed about before. "I-I actually enjoyed it," he admitted with a good deal of embarrassment.

"Haha!" Anko laughed after a few moments as she pointed at him. "You're _totally_ blushing! It's so obvious why you had that mask now. You were too afraid you couldn't handle _this_," she continued as she ran her hands over her hips.

"Says the woman that blushed like it was her first kiss," he shot back only to notice her turn away a bit at his words.

"…I-it kind of w-was," the woman admitted as she turned away from him a bit further. "I've had to make-out with guys to get some information before…but that was the first one I ever gave because I wanted to."

"…Sorry," Naruto said softly as he carefully reached over and touched her shoulder. "I didn't know. I forget sometimes that I'm not the only one who suffered for something I didn't have a choice in. For what it's worth…I'm happy I got your first one in a way."

Slowly, Anko turned back towards him with a small tint of red still evident on her face as she huffed slightly.

"I guess I can forgive you for being an ass if you spend some time with me today," she stated as she absent-mindedly rubbed her own forearms. It was a gesture Naruto knew she only used when she was making herself feel a bit vulnerable, so it was something even he had only seen once or twice before.

"I'm free until around seven this evening. Once that rolls around, I have to meet up with the Sandaime. I'm yours until then."

"O-oh, gotcha," she stated with a genuine smile though it was obvious that she was slightly saddened at the news. "At least I get someone to hang out with until then."

"Eh…you know…you can probably come with me if you want to when the time rolls around," the blonde said as he reached out and grabbed his tea cup and took a sip. "We're going to the estate my parents owned and getting me moved in."

"Wait, the Namikaze estate? As in that giant house right next to the white-eyed pricks?" Anko asked with her usual name for the Hyuga.

"Yup." He responded.

"Wow, I'm a bit jealous," she admitted as reached over and pushed him playfully. "It must be nice to have all that space."

"Eh…maybe. I think it's probably going to be way too much space for one person," Naruto said honestly with a sad smile. "Still, the old man wants me to take it since I've finally got a decent grasp on the Hiraishin. He keeps telling me that they'd want me to have it."

"Heh…it's still so _weird_ to think that I was partnered with the Yondaime's son," Anko stated with a small smile as she reached forward and grabbed her own tea and gave him a glance. "You know I'm eventually going to rub that in people's faces, right?"

"When it becomes public knowledge, I would fully encourage it," he shot back with a small grin. "Just make sure to describe how much ass I kicked."

"Be sure to tell them how I carried young Naruto through the trials of a shinobi, got it," Anko said with a sagely nod.

The now official-Genin merely turned towards her with a deadpan stare. "You're a pain in the ass sometimes, you know that?"

"So I've been told," she admitted after placing her tea back down onto the table. "You wouldn't have it any other way though, now would you?" she asked after turning a smirk towards him.

"No," he admitted with a soft chuckle. "You're definitely one of a kind Anko, I wouldn't change you for the world."

* * *

**Aaaaaand there's Chapter 1, I hope you enjoyed. If you didn't…well then you almost certainly won't like the rest. =p**

**Naruto's Hiraishin isn't mastered despite the flawless use of it in the Mizuki 'fight.' His limitations with it will be described in the next chapter in the skirmish with Team 7. You'll also find out which bloodline he has.**

**Hiruzen gave him the right to tell anyone about his secrets, including his lineage and the Kyubi, if I didn't make that entirely clear. However, the people he tells aren't allowed to speak of it. **

**He still introduces himself as Uzumaki Naruto for now since his adoption isn't yet finalized. That will change in the next chapter - thus making the story title appropriate.**

**Anko was promoted to full Jonin while partnered with Naruto, I'm aware her usual rank is Special Jonin. I know my portrayal of her likely made her seem quite soft, but that's the side of herself that she generally keeps hidden from others for fear of getting hurt. What Naruto has done to earn enough of her trust to see that side of her will be touched upon a bit later. His mission record should give a bit of a hint.**

**I **_**know**_** that I read something about the idea of Mount Myobōku Fire Sake in another fanfic somewhere, but I cannot remember where it was or who wrote it for the life of me. Credit goes to whoever you were random author!**

**Finally, if you have any constructive criticism I would love to hear it in a PM or review – whichever you're more comfortable with. I can hardly go about solving problems in my writing without knowing what they are first. (Other than my inconsistent and slow updates, that is.)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. You Pass

**Author's Notes**

**Hey everyone, I'd just like to take a moment before the chapter starts to address some reviews and PMs that I've received. **

**First of all, the harem. Details will be at the very bottom of the post-chapter notes. If you don't want to know, then don't read the very bottom of them. **

**Secondly, Naruto's birth and the Kyubi attack happened 3 years earlier than in Canon. (I'm somewhat uncertain if that works well with Obito's age, but hopefully it fits.) His age is natural and wasn't the product of any sort of outside manipulation. My thanks to SeanHicks4 and The Lazy Wolf for pointing out the possible confusion there**

**Finally, Naruto's strength and future enemies. At first, he is probably going to come across as overly strong. I want to state that he ****is **_**meant **_**to ****be incredibly powerful, but a more experienced and powerful shinobi (A and S-rank) can still give him a decent challenge one-on-one for the moment **_**if he doesn't catch them off-guard with his abilities. **_**His enemies won't receive a power boost per say, but due to his eventual notoriety the Akatsuki and others will take him as a far more serious threat and handle him accordingly. Thanks again to SeanHicks4 for bringing it up. **

**Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions or express concerns in a review or PM. I'll answer any that I feel I can without spoiling too much of what I have planned.**

**It's worth noting now that there **_**will**_** be one re-occurring cross-over character from League of Legends that's introduced within this chapter. If you don't play the game, don't worry, as you will still be able to follow along without any knowledge about it.**

**Sarutobi Naruto: The All Seeing Monkey**

**Chapter 2: You Pass**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

**(Anko's Apartment, Evening)**

"…Are you sure you still want to come?" Naruto asked with a bit of mirth obvious in his voice as he looked at the slightly swaying form of Mitarashi Anko in front of him.

"Of course I do," said woman answered with a slur that would let nearly anyone know that she was rather intoxicated at that moment despite her shinobi training and high tolerance. "Beats being here alone," the violet-haired woman continued as she stumbled a bit towards the blond.

"Then you might want to change first," he recommended as he gestured at her casual outfit that she hadn't changed out of since he first arrived. "It's probably going to get a bit chilly later on."

"Naaaaaaah," she drawled out and caused the blond to forcibly stop himself from recoiling a bit due to the pungent scent of alcohol that drifted towards him. Moving over to where Naruto stood with only one small stumble, she leaned heavily against his side as they stood in the center of her small multi-purpose room. "Too comfy like this."

"Alright," the newly-promoted Genin said with a smile gracing his lips on his still-exposed face. "Grab on and I'll Shunshin us to the Hokage Tower."

"Noooo," Anko drawled out somewhat childishly, causing the blond to have to suppress the urge to laugh at her. A moment later, despite her drunken state, he felt a pair of lithe arms slither quickly around his neck. Not even half of a second later, he also felt a pair of legs lock around his waist.

"Carry me," she stated in a tone that could be confused for either a request or a command as she placed her chin on his right shoulder.

"…Carry you?" Naruto repeated as he turned his head to where her own was resting and quirked an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

The drunk woman merely nodded lazily on his shoulder as her breasts pressed into his back due to her leaning her full weight into him.

"Yes," she slurred out once again. "Carry me through the village."

"…Alright," he said with a growing grin as he saw that she seemed genuinely surprised at his quick acceptance. "What? The _sexy_ and _single_ Mitarashi Anko wants a ride on my back and you think I'll just turn you down?"

"Hehehe," the woman giggled with a grin that could only be described as Naruto-like in nature. "You should be paying me for the honor, _Saru-kun~_," she said teasingly.

Letting out a chuckle at her words with a roll of his eyes, Naruto merely shook his head as he walked towards her door. "Whatever you say, _Hebi-hime_," he shot back as he exited her apartment and began walking towards the Hokage tower.

Their walk towards the tower was intentionally slow, as he imagined that this was something Anko had really wanted based on the smile that never left her lips – something he caught out of the corner of his white eyes.

As they walked, villagers of course took notice of the two of them. Many were left staring in unhidden awe at the Byakugan-wielding teen dressed so casually. However, much to his ire, several villagers directed a judgmental gaze towards the woman he carried on his back – something that they were _strongly_ dissuaded against continuing with a quick glare of his own.

"You don't have to do that, you know," Anko stated softly from his shoulder with a small smile still etched onto her face despite the harsh looks. "I'm used to it."

"So am I…in a way," Naruto stated as he glanced her direction before turning his gaze forward again. "My clone and my younger self always got glares and other bullshit from the villagers when it was out. Just because you're used to it doesn't mean I'll let them give you grief while I'm around, you should know that by now."

At those words, the smile on the Jonin's face grew a bit wider as she recalled the rare occasions that the two of them were together. Not only were they fun because someone other than Kurenai and Ibiki happily chatted with her, but he would also usually go out of his way to ensure anyone who threw around her more…_suggestive _moniker within Konoha's walls wound up having a rather bad evening in one way or another.

"Well, you can't slip laxative into _everyone's_ drink," the violet-haired woman stated with a silent giggle at remembering the time he did it to a group that had been harassing her a bit that night.

"Oh, I dunno~" Naruto replied in a sing-song tone as he glanced towards her. "I slipped it into your sake pretty easily before we left." His words were responded to by a momentary tensing of the female Jonin before her body relaxed again.

"You wouldn't do that to me," she responded confidently a moment later. "Not without me starting it at least."

Once again, Naruto's eyebrow quirked as he spared the woman a quick glance. "What makes you think that _I_ wouldn't start a little prank war between us?"

"You like me too much," Anko stated with a smirk as she felt the blond's body tense momentarily beneath her before continuing on as if it were nothing.

With a _very_ mild blush on his cheeks, the recently-official Genin spared another glance to the woman as he flashed her a small smile.

"I suppose you've got me there," he admitted as he wondered if she had been trying to infer that she knew of his real feelings for her or was merely teasing him like they usually would do to one another.

However, he couldn't get a proper read on her as Anko's eyes turned to the right and progressively turned back further as he proceeded along the road. Coming to a stop, he shifted his body to get a look at what had seemingly caught her eye.

His eyes widened slightly as he saw a rather extravagant black banner across the front of a store that read 'Kagishi Printing' in nearly blindingly bright and extravagant orange lettering that seemed to scream 'look at me!'

"Oooooo," Anko said in awe as she mentally compared the banner she was seeing to the one she usually used to 'announce' herself into public meetings.

Glancing at the woman he held, he chuckled silently at how awestruck she appeared to be as he moved to the door of the business. The violet-haired Jonin he held merely turned to look at him in momentary confusion as she only recognized they were moving towards the door right before they stepped inside.

Realizing what the blond was seemingly going to do for her, a Naruto-like grin once again graced her face as they stepped inside of the place and one last thought crossed her mind.

'_Best. Birthday. Ever.' _

* * *

**(Several minutes later)**

_Knock Knock_

"Enter!" came the familiar voice of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Oi, you're going to have to stand for a sec again," Naruto stated as he glanced to his right to see Anko still resting her head on his shoulder with her arms around his neck. She had only gotten down for a few moments in the printing building they went into, and even that was only so she could write down what she wanted on her shiny new banners…and the free promotional cards they got as a result of the rather expensive purchase.

Said cards were small strips of paper that were usually purchased only by people that ran a business of some sort, but the owner was apparently trying to convince people to get them for introductory purposes. Upon receiving 100 of them for free, the Jonin had been adamant about writing down her 'awesome' idea down for them. After an embarrassing interaction with the owner afterwards, he had taken the cards he was given to keep and sealed everything away. Anko had then taken her position upon his back again immediately, though he now had to hold her legs instead of her locking them around his waist.

"Awww, but my riiide," she drawled out lazily with a pout as her arms tightened a bit around his neck. It was clear from the scent on her breath that she was still intoxicated, and her half-lidded eyes seemed to show that she likely wouldn't be conscious for much longer as a result.

"…Fine, but at least reach down and open the door for me," he responded after giving a small sigh as he adjusted his grip on her thighs to keep her held up properly.

After the violet-haired woman successfully managed to grab the knob on the third attempt and pulled it open by a small margin, he slid his foot into the crack and opened it the rest of the way with a combination of his foot and knee before stepping inside. Once the frustrating obstacle had been successfully navigated, he was rewarded with the sight of the Sandaime smirking from behind his desk.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, how nice of you to finally join me. I thought you might have forgotten our appointment," the elderly man said with a small puff on his pipe before turning his gaze to the blond's passenger. "As always, it's a pleasure to see you as well Anko."

"Hehe, hiiii Jijiiiii," the Jonin drawled out again with a giggle from her spot on Naruto's back while giving a small wave towards the Sandaime. Despite her current state, it would be nearly impossible not to pick up on how happy she seemed to be.

Hiruzen, having a hunch, merely locked eyes with Naruto as his lips twitched to try to suppress the full-blown grin that so desperately tried to force itself on his face at seeing the female Jonin in such a state. "Fire Sake?" he asked, knowing that the woman had an incredibly high tolerance for alcohol in most cases.

"Fire Sake," Naruto confirmed with a small sigh as he adjusted his grip on Anko's legs again to make sure he wouldn't drop her – a gesture that caused the woman's face to blush a bit as his hands slid up her exposed thighs.

"I'm guessing it's safe to assume that she'll be joining us this evening then?" Hiruzen asked with a slightly raised brow.

"Hai," Naruto responded as he moved his head over and gently nudged Anko's head with his own since he couldn't actually point to her. "We probably would've been here sooner, but _someone_ thought it would be a good idea to break into the sake a few hours ago."

"Whaaaaat?" Anko asked innocently from her perch as she ran a hand absent-mindedly through the blond's braid of hair that she had recently pushed over his left shoulder to make her position a bit more comfortable. "I only drank like…half a bottle. I'm fine," she continued after giving a small yawn and finally letting her eyes close entirely.

The Sandaime actually coughed a bit and adopted a genuinely surprised expression upon hearing this. After the brief fit was over, he regarded the two of them with slightly widened eyes.

"She actually managed to drink half of a bottle hasn't puked or passed out yet?" He asked with genuine surprise.

"Yuuuuuup!" Anko stated happily and with a grin from Naruto's back as she tried to press herself even closer to his back for the warmth he gave off. "I'm awesome, aren't I?" she asked with a slur.

Both men shared a knowing look with one another before Naruto responded to her.

"Yes Anko, you're awesome," he repeated while leaving in the slur she had given the word.

At this, the woman's arms tightened a bit around his neck again as she moved her head close enough to his to brush her cheek up against his own. After making contact with his skin, she let out a soft, happy-sounding sigh.

"This is why I love you so much," she slurred drowsily even as the blond's face immediately lit up in a blush and his eyes widened. A pregnant pause ruled the room for nearly a minute after that statement before the new Genin could do anything other than run those same words through his mind again and again.

'_Did…did she just…? That was…? What…?' _

"Anko?" Naruto asked softly after realizing that her breath become regulated against the crook of his neck during the silence. When he received no response, he shifted his eyes to the right and couldn't suppress a smile that tugged his lips back when he saw how peaceful she looked at that moment

'_Of course she would fall asleep after saying something like that,' _he told himself with an inward sigh. _'Figures I would hear those words from her after all this time when she's drunk. I guess it wouldn't be Anko otherwise though...' _

"Well…it would certainly seem that your reveal to her went rather well," Hiruzen said mirthfully from his seat as he looked towards the blond.

"Yeah…" Naruto responded quietly as he kept his gaze on Anko's peaceful-looking face for a few long moments before turning his gaze to his grandfather in all but blood with a grin. "It definitely did."

"…Well, I'm happy to say that the work I had to do here today went pretty well too," the aged Kage continued as he stood up from his chair and moved to the wall that the scroll with Naruto's things was leaning against. He leaned down and grabbed it with a light groan before he spoke again.

"Your adoption into the Sarutobi clan went without any major hiccups, but I'm afraid I couldn't dissuade the Shinobi Council from voting to force the CRA on you after I filled them in on your real capabilities. You remember the specifics on that from the law book I made you read, yes?"

At this, the blond gave an outward sigh as his eyes glanced over towards Anko's face again for a brief moment.

"I figured they would push for it since you had to tell them about my bloodline," he said softly as he forcefully drew his eyes away from the woman that held his heart and back towards the elderly man. "It's the law where males with a known bloodline are obligated to marry multiple women, right?"

"Correct," the aged man stated as he kept his eyes locked onto the teen who was obviously nervous.

"How many?" Naruto asked in a soft voice, quite fearful at what was to come next since the council decided the number of mandatory marriages case-by-case.

"A minimum of five," the Sandaime stated with a heavy heart as he watched his newest family member look over towards the woman on his back yet again. "I did manage to get them to extend the deadline for the marriages for three years. They won't be able to mandate you enter into a marriage with someone until you turn nineteen," he stated with a frown on his face at seeing the blond's slightly downcast expression.

"For what it's Naruto, I'm sorry," Hiruzen whispered as he came closer and placed a hand on his free shoulder while letting his own eyes dart towards Anko, secretly thankful that the timing of her falling unconscious was so well timed. "Hopefully she will understand the necessity of it."

"Yeah…hopefully," Naruto stated softly as he readjusted his grip on Anko's legs again. "Let's just get out of here. I don't really want to think about the damned CRA or the council right now."

The two men and unconscious Jonin then proceeded to make their way out of the Hokage tower and into the streets of the village as darkness began to fall upon it. The street lights along the roads flickered on as they walked, granting them vision of where they were walking.

Even at nearly 8 in the evening by this point, there were still a fair number of villagers walking on the road for various reasons. It had always seemed incredibly hypocritical to him in the past few years to see the same people bow to the Hiruzen and then glare at his clone as if it didn't deserve to exist despite the elderly man's words to them.

Tonight, however, Naruto found their walk somewhat amusing because they would bow to the Hokage and stare at him with unrestrained curiosity just as they had when he was walking with Anko by himself. The looks leveled at his 'passenger' died down significantly with the elderly man's presence, but there were still some judgmental gazes directed towards the woman that Naruto warded off with a sharp glare just as he had before.

The walk itself was rather short seeing as the estate was rather close to the Hokage tower – something that Naruto was quite thankful for since he could feel Anko shivering slightly against his back. It was getting slightly chilly that night as he had predicted, and with the clothes she was wearing, her body's reaction wasn't too surprising.

"And here we are," Hiruzen stated as he stepped up to a walled-off, two-story house that seemed as if it would hold a 7-8 person family based on the size alone. There was an 8-foot tall solid-stone wall surrounding the entire estate save for the iron gate they stood on the outside of that allowed people to peer just inside the grounds.

Naruto, however, had a small frown on his face as he looked through the gate at the estate.

'_I was right, this place looks way too big for just one person,' _he thought as he let his eyes take in the full size of the estate.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually, Naruto," Hiruzen stated from his side as if he was reading his mind. "Besides, I'm sure your parents would want you to have this," he repeated as he had several times within the past few months.

"…I guess you're right," Naruto said softly as he glanced towards the man as he felt the woman on his back shiver again. "Let's just head inside. It's getting a little chilly out here."

The aged Kage merely nodded in response before raising a hand and placing it a small, square area in the center of the gate. After a moment, a small flash of blue traveled from it the square to where the lock was most likely located.

_Click_

With nothing further, the Sandaime pushed the gate open with the hinges creaking softly. He then proceeded to step inside and shut it after Naruto had followed him in to ensure that it locked itself once more.

"Chakra lock?" Naruto asked with slightly raised brows as he turned to the Sandaime.

"Yes," the aged man responded as the gate clicked to signal that it was locked again. "A simple lock is too easily picked, and your parents were of the opinion that blood wasn't a very good alternative for a key. These were a favorite of theirs for their security."

"Huh…I didn't know that," the blond stated with a slightly surprised face. "Makes sense though, I suppose, since it's so difficult to replicate a chakra signature. If that's the security of the gate though, then where's the master acceptance array?"

"Hidden in the house and connected to the gate underground via a thin line of chakra metal, if memory serves," Hiruzen responded with a smile as he walked back up to the teen and pushed forward towards the house. "I'll make sure your chakra signature is on it before I leave."

Naruto merely nodded as his gaze swung from side to side to take in the parts of the grounds that he hadn't been able to see before. The place was mostly bare, all things considered, but the important thing was that it had a large portion of ground set aside for training judging by the grassless Earth. There were a series of multiple, life-like training dummies, an adjustable bar atop 2 grooved stones that looked like it was meant for pull-ups or other similar exercises, and even a sparring circle dug out of the ground.

"Huh…I guess you weren't kidding when you said my kaa-san wasn't a fan of gardening and the like," the blond stated as he noticed a distinct lack of any flowers or other things that usually decorated such a large estate.

"No, no she wasn't," Hiruzen stated with a chuckle. "Kushina was every bit as dedicated to training as Minato was, well…up until…"

"Yeah, I got it," Naruto replied a bit solemnly as he noticed that the elderly Kage seemed to be struggling for the right words to say.

The elderly man just nodded in acceptance of the blond subtly telling him not to say anything more as they came up to the door of the estate. Placing his hand just above the door knob, he went through the same process that he had done with the gate. With another small flash of blue, there was an audible _click_ before the Sandaime stepped forward and pushed the door open.

As the two men stepped inside while Naruto still carried the unconscious member of their party, the blond's eyes widened marginally upon seeing the inside as the Sandaime flicked on the lights. He was always told that his parents weren't vane people, and it seemed as if the interior of the first room in the house reflected that.

In many households of this size, he would expect to see art on the walls or unnecessary statues within nearly every room. After all, if people had money, they were usually inclined to show off with it a bit. However, within the living room that they initially stepped into, there was really nothing that could be considered unreasonable.

There was a sizable black sofa in the center of the room that looked as if it could hold 3-4 people, a coffee table in front of it, and an old television slightly larger than Anko's own a ways away. There also appeared to be several cushioned hardwood seats along the walls that people could pull up if they desired.

Connected immediately to the living room seemed to be a dining room with a table meant for 4-6 people with 4 cushioned seats tucked underneath it. The legs of said table seemed to be carved, but it was a rather simple carving of the common Uzumaki swirl that had likely just caught the eyes of one of his parents.

On the wall overlooking the dining table was a portrait of who Naruto knew was his mother and father – Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. A small, sad smile crossed his lips at the sight of his father grinning happily behind his heavily pregnant mother with both sets of hands on her stomach.

"In case you're wondering," Hiruzen's voice called to snap him out of his momentary stupor, "it was Kakashi that kept the place clean all these years. He usually stopped by at least once a month to get rid of the dust and the like."

"…I'll have to remember to thank him tomorrow then," the newly official Genin responded without turning his gaze to the man. After a moment of thought about what to do first, he turned towards the couch and walked over to it before turning away from it and squatting down – subsequently causing Anko to sit on the cushion while leaning against his back.

Reaching up to his neck, he carefully pulled the woman's arms apart, smirking when he heard her groan from being moved. The blond then leaned backwards slightly, causing the violet-haired beauty to slump back against the couch without anything to hold her position against his back any longer. Turning around, he then slowly lowered her into a laying position on the touch, bringing over a nearby pillow to tuck under her head to make sure she was relatively comfortable.

Walking back over to the Sandaime after satisfying himself with Anko's current state, he was met by the soft gaze of the elderly man.

"…What?" Naruto asked after a few moments of silence.

"You really do love her, don't you?" Hiruzen asked, causing the blond teen to turn his head away slightly even as a rather obvious blush crossed his cheeks.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to, Sofu," he responded as he crossed his arms in front of his chest defensively and let his gaze wander around the house again.

"…Fair enough," the Kage responded with a knowing smile pulling at his wrinkled face once again. "Let's explore the other parts of the house, shall we?"

Nodding in return, Naruto merely followed the man as he led him through other areas of his new home. All things considered, he was pleasantly surprised at how nice the place seemed to be despite the large size. He was shown to 6 different, fully-furnished bedrooms, the largest of which was obviously the master bedroom, along with the three different restrooms that were within the walls. He thought the latter was a bit much for housing under 10 people. However, he then came to the realization that important diplomats who were visiting would have likely wanted a restroom entirely to themselves.

One of the six bedrooms he elected to not explore for the time being, as Hiruzen had explained that it was designed to be his room. He merely made a mental note to explore it and deal with the raw emotion that it would likely cause at a later date.

Aside from the bedrooms and bathrooms, he was also shown into quite a sizable kitchen that was equipped with the basic appliances one might expect. A stove, refrigerator, toaster, and shelves with various cooking utensils were all there. There was even a slightly stained cooking apron hanging off to the side of the stove with the Uzumaki swirl embroidered into the front. He had to refrain from letting a few tears escape his eyes as he mentally pictured a possible life with his mother wearing it as a younger version of himself walked in sleepily for breakfast.

However, after not-so-subtly wiping his eyes on his sleeve, he and Hiruzen proceeded into the basement of the house through a stairwell that was in a small room off to the side of the kitchen. Once there, they came to a door with a large seal visible across the front and yet another small, metal square in the center.

"This one requires both a chakra signature and a bit of blood, Naruto," Hiruzen stated as he held his position a bit behind the boy. "My chakra will be able to unlock half of it, but you'll need to supply a bit of blood for this."

Nodding at the man, Naruto bit down harshly on his right thumb and proceeded to rub a vertical smear over the metal plate. Said plate glowed a bright blue for a moment as the life-giving substance was seemingly absorbed into it before an audible _click_ was heard. A moment later, Hiruzen came up and placed his hand on the square before sending another pulse of it through the door – causing another _click_ to ring out through the stairwell.

"Go ahead," Hiruzen prompted as he gestured to the door knob. "You should be able to open it now."

Not giving any sort of acknowledgment to the statement, but having heard it nonetheless, Naruto reached forward and turned the knob before pushing open the door.

Stepping into the room, it was almost…anti-climactic to the blond at first. The wood that made up the floor and walls of the room seemed to be pristine, presumably protected from any sort of long-term damage from seals that were likely engrained onto the boards on the outside.

Straight ahead of the duo was a cushioned chair in front of a sizable desk that had a few papers neatly stacked on the surface. The walls of the room aside from the desk and some small empty spaces in between were lined entirely with large shelves. Upon said shelves were something Naruto was _very_ familiar with after his years under the Sandaime's care.

Books and scrolls. Hundreds upon hundreds of books and scrolls. Unlike the reaction many teens his age may have had, Naruto's eyes shot open as if he had been informed he had won free ramen for the rest of his life.

"This…this is…" the blond began to say before he quickly shut his mouth upon realization that the proper words escaped him at that moment.

"The second largest and library within Konoha, only bested by my own," Hiruzen finished from beside the boy as the two turned to look at one another. "However, within here, I wouldn't doubt that you could probably find intricate detail on some topics that you've never even heard of within mine."

"Incredible…," Naruto said simply as he let his mind run through the possibility and his eyes shifted from shelf to shelf.

"Yes, yes it is," Hiruzen admitted with a bit of pride at seeing the collection of knowledge his successor had accumulated once again after so many years. "However, you can look at all of those later. For now, I wanted to come in here to show you this."

With no further explanation, the acting Hokage walked around what Naruto assumed was his father's desk and raised a hand to the wooden surface directly behind it. With yet another application of chakra, three of the wood boards slid open to reveal an intricate seal array.

"Channel your chakra into this, Naruto," the elder Sarutobi clan member stated.

Wasting no time in doing as he was told, Naruto walked over and placed his hand into the center of the ray and channeled chakra into it – causing it to glow bright blue in the process.

"Keep channeling until the glow stops," the blond heard the elderly man say behind him. From the past few years of studying Fuinjutsu, Naruto was already aware of this, but a friendly reminder never hurt things.

After roughly 30 seconds, the glow finally died down as Naruto took his hand away from the array. Having a hunch as to how the mechanism that hid it worked, he placed his hand on the wood framing the array and channeled chakra into it. Just as he had predicted, the specially crafted wood quickly slid shut to hide the master seal of his new house's security system.

"And that's all there is to it," Hiruzen said with a smile as the blond Genin turned around to face him. "So, what do you think?"

"It's great, Sofu," the teen stated after a moderate length of silence. "I guess…I guess it just doesn't feel like home yet."

"Give it time, Naruto," the man responded as he placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "I know you'll come to love the place."

"If you say so," Naruto shot back with a small sigh. "I still think the villagers will nearly riot when they figure out that I'm living here."

"Perhaps, but like I've said, the defensive seals around the estate and my ANBU will take care of things if it comes to that."

"…Even so," Naruto changed gears a bit as he knew that the old man had him on that point, "I still think people will be able to start guessing my lineage when they hear about this."

At this, the elderly man merely sighed and rubbed over his eyes with his forefinger and thumb.

"Some of the more intelligent ones, perhaps," he admitted. "However, fibbing a bit and saying that the Yondaime wrote down that he wanted you to have his estate at sixteen would ward off most thoughts on the matter. The clan heads already know and are aware that they are to keep it a secret, so I can't see it becoming anything but a rumor at most...at least until they see you use something like the Hiraishin or Rasengan first-hand."

"Fine, fine," Naruto stated with a brief wave of his hands in front of him to dismiss the topic that the two of them had discussed frequently over the past three months he had been relentlessly working on his father's signature technique. "I'm here already anyway, so I'll make the most of it."

"Good," the Sandaime said with a brief chuckle as he clapped the boy on the shoulder. "Now, I believe that _I_ am going to retire for the evening to get some much-needed relaxation. Any questions before I go?"

"No Sofu, I can't really think of anything off-hand," Naruto stated with a knowing smirk. "You can feel free to leave me here and go read your smut. I swear, you don't know what good reading material is…"

"Ah, Naruto, no need to be jealous of Jiraiya. I think your novel is just fine, but…" Hiruzen trailed off as a small drop of blood dripped down from one of his nostrils. "Romance novels aren't my genre of choice," he elaborated.

"Tsk…the number one book in the Elemental Nations for over a year and you still prefer Icha Icha," Naruto stated in mock hurt tone that was obviously not meant to be taken seriously.

"Now, now," the Kage stated. "You've got enough readers without me…or the entire male gender for that matter," he continued with a chuckle as he remembered walking out one day and seeing a black-covered book in almost every female's hands at the time.

"Ah, whatever," Naruto said with a small sigh. "Tales of the Kitsune is still better," he said with confidence as he defended his recently published novel.

"You keep telling yourself that, Naruto," Hiruzen stated teasingly with a final clap to the teen's shoulder before he turned and began walking out of the room. The blond quickly followed him out, only pausing to seal up the door to his father's office, and quickly found himself back at the front door.

"I'll take my leave of you now, Magomusuko. Remember, if you need anything, my door is always open to you as is our clan's."

The Byakugan-wielding teen merely let a wide grin come to his face at the realization of his recent name change.

"Thanks Jiji," he stated simply, instinctively referring back to his nickname for the man standing before him.

Merely giving a small nod in response as he tipped his Kage hat forward, Hiruzen pulled open the front door of the estate and exited the room.

'_Alright then,' _Naruto thought as he ran a hand through his hair. _'What to do next…' _he continued as he let his gaze fall onto Anko's form on the couch. _'I don't know how long she'll be out, so I should probably move her to a bed.' _

As he moved to the couch to gently wake the woman, he had to stifle a yawn at the thought of sleep – something he didn't particularly get a lot of the previous night. Given, any true shinobi would know how to function on minimal sleep, but the past few nights had been a struggle to get any rest due to his excitement. The thought of finally being acknowledged as an official shinobi of Konoha and being able to reveal his true self kept his mind racing more often than not.

'_After that, I should probably pick a bed myself,' _he thought as he shook his head a bit to wake himself up for the moment. _'I'm definitely going to need it if I'm going to need to fight Kakashi tomorrow.' _

Squatting down, he placed a hand Anko's shoulder and pushed lightly, causing her form to shake a bit.

"Anko…c'mon, you need to get up," he said as he continued the motion. The response he received, however, was a groan from the woman as her eyes squeezed shut and she rolled to face her back towards him. At this, Naruto merely let out a sigh. Despite not spending a lot of time off-duty with her, he was quite familiar with having to wake Anko up when she had fallen asleep drunk – the state he found her in more often than not when he was informing her of a new mission.

"C'mon Anko-chan, you're beautiful enough as is, you don't need any more beauty sleep," Naruto said as he shook her body again.

"…Saru?" A rather groggy voice asked as the Jonin rolled over and cracked her eyes open _just_ enough to see before shutting them again due the light that filled the room at that moment. "Where…," she began without ever opening her eyes as her memories seemingly caught up to her.

"My house, Anko," he answered with a smile towards her that went unseen. "You've only been sleeping about an hour, so I'm going to help you get to bed to sleep this off, alright?"

Instead of giving a verbal answer, the woman merely let out something akin to a sigh before nodding her head up and down.

The sight of the woman in a drunken state, while a common occurrence to many people, caused Naruto's smile to stretch out a bit further. Under normal situations, Anko would usually lash out at anyone that tried to touch her while she was drunk – a subconscious reaction the blond guessed she had developed to defend herself. However, over the past year specifically out of their three year partnership, they had found that she seemingly trusted him enough to let him touch her if she recognized on some level that it was him. To know that she trusted him to that extent, if nothing else, always managed to improve his mood no matter what it was.

"Alright, and _up you go_," the pale-eyed teen said as he pulled Anko to her feet and slung her arm around his shoulders for support.

"Woah…" the woman stated as she struggled to stay upright, the world spinning a bit to her. "Sorry," she slurred, "dizzy."

"Baka," Naruto chided softly from her side as he began to direct the woman towards one of the free bedrooms. "I told you not to get into the Fire Sake until later, but noooo~," he teased in a sing-song voice.

The intoxicated Jonin seemingly elected not to respond and chose to keep moving forward with the blond's help. Without anything more than a few stumbles, the two made their way into one of the bedrooms in a hallway of the house.

Upon opening the door, any onlookers would be able to note that it wasn't anything particularly fancy. It was a room roughly three-fourths of the size of Anko's entire apartment. Within the center of the room with the headboard against the left wall was a queen-sized mattress with fresh sheets and pillows atop it.

'_I'm really going to have to remember to thank Kakashi for taking care of the place,' _the blond thought as he looked at the room once again – having already done so with Hiruzen during the door. He shoved said thoughts back though as he carefully maneuvered his companion's form into the room beside him as they walked towards the bed.

However, as they neared the bed, Naruto failed to spot the mischievous gleam in the woman's eyes. As he shifted his weight to push her forward onto the mattress, a pair of familiar arms made their way around the back of his neck and dragged him down even as the form of the woman they belonged to fell back-first onto the bed.

Closing his eyes and pushing his arms forward to stop himself, the blonde only opened his eyelids again when he felt the soft cushion of the mattress stop him from falling any further. The sight he was rewarded with was a pair of half-lidded brown eyes staring into his own.

"So forward, Saru-_kun_~," Anko slurred teasingly as her arms tightened a bit around his neck. "You should at least buy a girl…dinner first," she ended with a yawn in between her words.

Despite the familiar tingle of a blush he felt in his cheeks at the obvious innuendo, the blonde kept from stuttering thanks to the teasing he was used to doing back and forth with the woman currently beneath him.

"Ah, well, I figured the dango from before could've been considered dinner. I guess I should've known better, a beautiful woman like you should only expect the best after all," he finished with a grin despite how cheesy the line could've been considered.

"Hehehe," Anko giggled as her eyes shut and eventually let out a happy-sounding sigh. "Flat…flatter…whatever," she conceded as her mouth seemed incapable of processing the word to describe the blonde at that moment.

"…So…" Naruto stated after quite a long moment of silence. "You gonna let me go anytime soon?"

"Hmmm…no," the woman responded as she kicked her feet back and drew him further onto the bed, something he decided to go along with for the time and crawled entirely onto the bed being despite the rather intimate-looking position. "Keep me warm," she said still without opening her eyes.

Letting his eyes soften at the woman beneath him, looking 'underneath the underneath' as Kakashi would often say, he noticed that the woman's face seemed to show a bit of nervousness. That, coupled with what she had just said, led him to only one conclusion.

"Nightmares again?" He asked softly, knowing that it was something she was often plagued by due to the mark upon her neck and what she had almost gone through during their only S-rank mission together.

"…Yeah," she all but whispered in return as she gave a slight nod.

Reaching back, he pulled the woman's arms apart from around his neck and easily slid her body up to the proper position on the bed. Her eyes cracked open and revealed her nervous orbs for a moment, but they seemed to curve upwards a bit in happiness as the blond sat on the edge of the bed and took off his boots before sliding in to the other part of the bed alongside her.

'_A bit different than sleeping up against one another in separate sleeping bags…' _Naruto thought as his mind drifted back to their last few months they were in the field together where she would often ask to do as much under the pretense of keeping warm. _'Whatever, as long as it helps her sleep peacefully, then I don't care what I have to do.' _

Once he situated himself on his side of the bed, he turned onto his left side just as Anko did the same and pushed her back as close to his chest as possible – the bottom of her head close enough for him to rest his chin on if he wanted. Without a second thought, Naruto wrapped his arm around her mid-section protectively, a gesture that they were both somewhat used to as he often did the same thing over her sleeping bag in the past.

"Better?" Naruto asked as the woman next to him let out a satisfied sigh.

"Mmhmm," she hummed happily before letting out a rather loud yawn. Even as she began to drift off into what would hopefully be some much-needed and restful sleep, one final thought crossed her mind.

'_Definitely the best birthday ever…' _

* * *

**(The Next Morning)**

Naruto's pale eyes cracked open as the first rays of light entered the room he was currently in – something he had been trained to do since first living with the Sandaime. Said eyes widened marginally for a moment at the warmth he felt against his chest, but he relaxed once he remembered how he had fallen asleep.

Shifting his arm a bit, however, he realized that it must have moved a bit over the night judging by the soft mounds that his limb was now pressing against. He immediately moved to pull his arm away, but found himself stopped as a hand gripped his forearm gently.

"You really should learn to buy a girl dinner first, Saru-kun," Anko said as teasingly as possible in a somewhat-groggy voice.

"I might consider it if a certain girl would start using my actual name, Hebi-hime," he shot back with a small grin on his face.

After a moment of silence, the snake summoner relinquished her hold on his arm and quickly rolled over to face him. Though her voice had sounded groggy, her eyes told the blond that she was wide-awake, and possibly had been for a while now.

"Sorry," she began as her eyes locked onto his own. "I'm just…I'm not used to actually knowing who you are yet."

"It's alright," he responded with a small smile. "I know it's probably a bit strange to know my name after three years of knowing me as something else."

"A little," Anko admitted with a smile of her own as she gazed at his facial features again as a full-blown blush rose on her cheeks. "You're still the same idiot I've fallen in love with though."

At this, Naruto's eyes slowly widened drastically as he stared into the blushing face of the woman next to him. He quickly looked her over for any sign of her being mischievous, but could find nothing in her expression that made it seem it was anything less than a genuine confession. As a blush rose to his own face, he couldn't stop the wide grin from spreading across his face.

"Confessing to a man on his bed, Anko-chan? How very cliché," he teased as he watched her face turn an even deeper shade of red.

"S-shut up," the violet-haired beauty said as she huffed and punched him somewhat awkwardly in the chest before looking into his eyes again with a nervous expression.

"Well if I did that, I wouldn't be able to respond to your confession, now would I?" Naruto asked somewhat nervously even as he swallowed the lump in his throat at what he was going to have to tell her next. "There's something you have to know before I say anything though."

The Jonin's eyes immediately went from nervous to confused before ultimately becoming a guarded – a sign that she had likely tried to steel her emotions for what she was about to hear.

"What is it?" She asked, fearing the worst.

"As of last night," he stated with a sigh, "the Shinobi Council has deemed it mandatory for me to participate in the Clan Restoration Act."

"…Of course they did," Anko said more to herself more than anyone as she rolled onto her back and stared up towards the ceiling. "Fucking fantastic."

The blond, in the meantime, had pushed himself into a sitting position and merely watched her. His mind raged for him to reach out and touch her or comfort her in some manner – a small part even raged at him to beg for her to accept him. However, the logical part of his mind told him that it would be unfair to the woman to influence her thoughts on the matter. This was a decision that she should make on her own.

Glancing over to her right after a lengthy silence, Anko's brown eyes looked up into the white ones she was familiar with and sighed. Though he had hidden it quite well, there were a few things that she could read that showed how worried he was. Though nothing was said between the two, it was obvious what the issue was.

"Give me some time to think about this," she finally said after another lengthy silence as she sat up. "I just…I don't know what to think about this right now," she continued despite the fact that her emotions were telling her otherwise.

"Alright," Naruto said with a nod and a small smile that he put up to try to hide his worry. "I understand." He then turned and got off of the bed before grabbing his boots and walking towards the door.

"I'm going to make some breakfast before I have to head out to meet my team. Would you like any?" The blond asked as he swung the door to the bedroom open and turned to gaze at Anko's form.

Seeing how the blnd was trying to make things a bit less awkward for the both of them, the violet-haired woman merely nodded with a thankful smile on her face before getting up to follow him out of the room.

* * *

**(Around 3 hours later)**

After having finished a mostly-silent breakfast between Anko and himself hours ago, the blonde had been left to himself to do as he wanted until the designated time he was supposed to meet with his team. Given, said time was _technically_ around 3 hours ago, but he knew he was still on time with Kakashi as a Jonin sensei. He had ensured to actually _use_ the free time he was given by placing his meager positions throughout the house and flipping through some of the things his father had in his library.

However, he was currently walking into the training field with gear that was nearly identical to what he had worn during the Mizuki incident. The only noteworthy differences were that his monkey mask was on his belt instead of on his face, his black mask was bunched around his neck, his flak jacket was unzipped, and he wasn't currently in the best of moods. Even with the cigarette currently in the corner of his mouth burning down quietly, a frown was etched onto his face as if it were a permanent feature.

Despite it not being Anko's fault by any means, he couldn't help but feel incredibly frustrated at what had happened earlier. He had known for over a year that the CRA was a possibility for him after discovering his bloodline, but to have the woman he loved confess her love on the day after it was confirmed was absolutely infuriating. He only shoved such thoughts aside as he entered the Third Training Ground.

Said area was relatively simple when all things considered. However, it was one that held a good deal of history with the shinobi and kunoichi that had used it. It consisted of a small glade with heavy forest surrounding it entirely save for the river that ran along the southern end. Within said glade were three stumps that, as Naruto knew, were often used for tying up students. Near where he had walked into the glade from was a polished memorial stone that held the names of individuals who had been killed in service to Konoha – something that Hiruzen and others had used to drive home the point of teamwork to their students.

Glancing to the stumps, Naruto saw that his two teammates were currently sitting against them even as they stirred slightly presumably due to his appearance.

"You're late!" Sakura shouted as she stood up while he got closer.

The blonde merely turned and stared at her as his scowl deepened a bit further. _'I am not in the mood for this shit today.'_

"Do you see Kakashi anywhere?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"No, sensei's as late as you were, baka!" The pink-haired girl shouted with a somewhat hesitant expression, still slightly unnerved at the change that the blond she 'knew' had undergone recently.

"I fail to see how I'm late if we haven't even begun then," Naruto shot back in an agitated tone as he took a long drag on the cigarette in his mouth and blew the smoke away. "If you two had done your research, you would know that Hatake Kakashi is notorious for being three hours late for nearly anything but an assigned mission. I took that time and made myself a nice breakfast before coming here."

"But sensei said not to have any breakfast!" Sakura shouted as Sasuke watched the interaction between the two of them silently, though he was also wondering why the blond had blatantly gone against what they were told.

"…You _seriously_ didn't eat anything this morning?" The Byakugan-wielding teen asked with a glance down at each of them since he stood several inches taller. The pinkette looked ready to repeat what Kakashi had told them once again and Sasuke merely gave him a curious look as if attempting to understand what he was getting at.

'_In hindsight, I guess I wouldn't have gotten it without my training over the past few years,' _he admitted reluctantly within his mind as he looked at his new teammates and let out a sigh. _'Kami…what I wouldn't give to just be able to skip being a Genin entirely.' _

However, before he could get a chance to explain why he had eaten, he was saved by the sound of someone else entering the clearing. At least…that's what he had expected. However, the sounds of multiple footsteps made him raise an eyebrow in intrigue as he turned around to glance at the newcomers.

'_Son of a bitch,' _he thought immediately as his eyes fell on four individuals walking alongside Kakashi as they entered the area. _'Of course he would change the test a bit when I already knew what it would be. Still…getting them of all people might be a bit much.' _

"Yo!" Kakashi stated as the five individuals grew near with the four other than their sensei chatting amongst themselves quietly.

"Kakashi," Naruto greeted with a nod even as Sasuke and Sakura took his side – the latter of the two glaring at the man for being late, although not voicing it since there were others around. "I see you've decided to change things up from your norm."

At this, the two unknowing Genin-hopefuls turned to the blonde with a confused look in their eyes before turning to the masked Jonin in front of them.

"Well, it would hardly be any fun if you knew _exactly _what to be prepared for," he responded with an eye smile.

"What does he mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura questioned. "I thought that this was just supposed to be a survival exercise."

"Ah, and whose fault is it that you believed information you were given without questioning it?" Kakashi asked in return. "To answer your question though, _this_ is the true Genin exam. If you fail to pass the guidelines that I set for you, then you'll be sent back to the academy for another year."

At this, the pink-haired girl immediately looked nervous, the 'last' Uchiha's eyes hardened in resolve, and Naruto merely retained the same expression as he had held before-hand.

"Your test will be to get these two bells before noon," Kakashi continued as he took out the items that meant a great deal to certain individuals. "Those of you who have a bell will become full-fledged Genin while anyone without one will go back to the academy," he finished with a firm look towards Naruto to let him know not to completely spoil this particular part for the other two since he would likely remain a Genin regardless of what occured.

If possible, Sakura looked even more nervous at this news while Sasuke grit his teeth in a moment of frustration at the idea of being held back. Once again, however, Naruto's expression didn't change as the cigarette continued burning down in his mouth.

The masked Jonin then three a finger over his shoulder towards the man standing within the group.

"The man behind me is Might Gai, one of Konoha's best Jonin alongside myself. He and his Genin squad will be defending me during the duration of this exercise in a mock VIP scenario," he stated with a small smile underneath his mask.

"Yosh!" The man said rather loudly as he put his free hand into a thumbs up and grinned at the three teens. Two of them sweat dropped at the gleam that the man's teeth gave off, but Naruto merely drew out another plume of smoke as if it were a normal occurrence.

"A pleasure to meet you two," the man stated sincerely as he gave a wide grin towards Sakura and Sasuke. "And it's always a pleasure to see old student again, Naruto," he continued with a brief glance towards the mask that hung on the blond's belt.

"The honor is mine, Gai-sensei," Naruto said with a slight bow towards the man. However, the miniature version of the man that was behind him immediately sprung forward at hearing his words.

"Gai-sensei!" He shouted with enthusiasm as he looked up towards the man and back towards the blonde in quick succession. "Is it true?! Is this the one you always told me about?"

"Yes, Lee," Gai stated with a boisterous laugh as he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Meet Uzu-_Sarutobi _Naruto," he corrected after remembering the change in name Kakashi had told him about an hour ago. "He is the only other Goken user within the village walls."

"Sarutobi?" Sakura whispered more to herself than anyone else, though Kakashi and Sasuke managed to hear it despite the low volume.

"He was formally adopted yesterday," the masked Jonin stated to clear up any confusion with his name as quickly as possible. The two Genin merely took this new information in with a bit of shock in Sakura's case at the renowned name, and a bit of warranted jealousy in Sasuke's at the idea of being welcomed into another family.

"YOSH!" The now-identified Lee said as he walked forward and stuck his bandage-wrapped hand out towards the blond. "It is an honor to meet you then, Naruto-san. I hope that you and I can have a spar sometime!"

"That would be…most youthful," the blond said with a smirk despite his somewhat foul mood. He was rewarded with the sight of the spandex-clad teen's eyes igniting as if they had genuinely caught on fire.

"Not another one!" A female voice groaned from behind Lee as she walked forward with the last member of their team towards their more…enthusiastic teammate. "I can't handle anymore youth crap!"

"You can relax then, Panda-chan," Naruto said with a smile upon his whiskered face as he turned to face the girl who had her hair up in a twin bun style with her bangs hanging slightly over her Konoha hitai-ate. "I do not follow Gai-sensei's…_youthful_ ways."

The teenage girl in question thanked Kami subconsciously for that small blessing, but outwardly formed a tick on her brow as she stared at the blond and resisted the urge to reach for one of her kunai.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you," she said far too sweetly to be genuine. "What did you call me, Naruto-san?"

"Panda-chan…your hairstyle kind of makes me think of panda ears," Naruto explained with a grin as he saw another tick form on the girl's brow. However, he merely turned his gaze to the noble-looking teen standing next to her that was giving him a mild glare upon seeing his eyes. "Hyuga-san," he greeted formally as the smile quickly dropped from his face.

"Sarutobi-san," he greeted in return as his glare intensified dramatically when their eyes met. "Tell me, does the world look better through eyes that do not belong to you?"

Suddenly, the area grew quiet as the two stared at each other. The two Jonin tensed slightly at the words the black-haired teen spoke, knowing that it was a rather delicate issue for the blond. Even Tenten's anger at what was seemingly her new nickname, fierce as it was, was quelled immediately by how tense the area grew.

"…I see some of the Hyuga clan is still happy believing that someone _stole_ their precious eyes unjustly," Naruto responded with a harsh glare after a long moment of silence as he remembered the near-fallout in a political sense that occurred after his surrogate grandfather had saved him from a bleak and very dark future. "One of your clansmen robbed me of my sight, it was _**well**_ within my rights to receive their own source of sight in return."

"Enough, Neji," Gai stated firmly as the teen appeared to have been opening his mouth to retort.

"…Hai, sensei," he stated after a few moments with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Well then," Kakashi spoke to try to get things a bit back on track. "Like I was saying, this will be a mock VIP scenario. Gai and his team will be protecting me, and these bells," he stated as he reached down and jingled them a bit, "are what you need to retrieve for your mission to be successful."

"S-sensei?" Sakura asked in a somewhat-shaky voice, clearly nervous about the entire situation.

"Hm?" The masked man hummed as he turned to the girl.

"This…isn't this a bit unfair? I-I mean, there's only two bells and this seems like a lot for academy students to handle."

'_Well, at least she's intelligent enough to pick up on that much,' _Kakashi thought as he scanned over her and Sasuke. _'I suppose that's to be expected from someone with nearly perfect academic scores.' _

"Life for those in our profession is rarely fair Sakura," Kakashi stated with what sounded like a bored tone of voice. "That being said, this is something that isn't usually done. I was granted permission to do this because the expectations for this team is incredibly high, and Gai-san's team could use the experience."

"That said however, there are actually a few additional things you need to know about for the purposes of this exercise," Kakashi continued. "You are to subdue these three and the VIP," he stated as he pointed towards Gai's Genin and himself, "using non-lethal force only under the premise of interrogating them for information later. Lethal force is permitted against Gai, as he's too dangerous to take down otherwise."

"Any questions?" Kakashi asked after he had finished his explanation.

"…Is the VIP likely to put up any substantial resistance?" Naruto questioned after a moment of thought.

At this, Kakashi hummed as he turned his head into the air for a moment to think.

"The VIP is a known noble no formal training to speak of," he answered after a lengthy silence.

Naruto then glanced over towards his two teammates, hoping that they would get the idea to ask a few more questions. However, with a small sigh, he realized that they hadn't gone through enough real missions to know to ask for such information when possible. His teammates were merely staring at him as if he had grown a second head instead, presumably due to how calm and collected he seemed in this situation. Even Gai's Genin, despite their various opinions of him, seemed to be trying to appraise him while they had the chance.

"If there are no other questions, then let's begin, shall we?" Kakashi asked with a smile under his mask as he took out a familiar orange book and opened it to a marked page, causing Naruto's eye to twitch in the process.

"Remember, you have until noon," he continued on while never letting his sight drift away from the book. "Start," he said lazily, causing two of the three Genin to bolt away at their top speed.

"He…he knows you said start, right?" The remaining kunoichi asked as she stared at the blond who was still standing calmly where he had been before.

"I have no doubt that he heard Kakashi, Tenten," Gai said in a serious tone as he turned towards his students. "Lee, take off your weights," he stated as the three of them let their eyes widen to different degrees.

"A-are you sure, Gai-sensei?" Lee asked with a glance over towards where the blonde was located.

"Yes, I'm sure," the Jonin responded as he turned around to let his experienced eyes rest on Naruto's form. "I know the guideline I set for you regarding your weights Lee, but you will need all of the speed you can get. Do not underestimate these three, _especially_ Naruto."

As Gai's mini-clone sat down on his rear and pulled down his orange leg-warmers, Tenten and Neji merely narrowed their eyes towards their only visible opponent. After all, if Gai felt the need to give them that sort of a warning, then this was certainly someone to take seriously.

"Ah, I see you've got him using weights too, Gai-sensei," Naruto stated with a laugh as the teen with the bowl-cut tossed a string of weights onto the ground. "I suppose I should remove mine too."

Flicking what tiny bit remained of his cigarette away after one final drag, the blonde leaned down and placed his palms over the engraving on the center of each of his shin-guards.

"Kai," he whispered just loud enough for everyone on the field to hear, causing Tenten to widen her eyes substantially.

"Weight seals," stated aloud for her teammates benefit more so than her instructor's as she grabbed a few kunai from her leg holster.

"Oh? So there's someone around my age that actually knows more about sealing than basic storage eh," Naruto asked in a happy tone as he leaned up and pumped his legs up and down a few times with impressive speed. "I actually thought I was the only one. It's nice to know I'm not completely alone in that department," he said with a warm smile towards the girl.

'…_He has a really nice smile,' _the brunette girl thought before gripping her kunai a bit tighter. _'Focus,' _she told herself a moment later with a mild shake of her head. _'No stray thoughts, only the mission.' _

"I suppose I should see what you're all capable of before I decide anything else," the blonde said with a wicked grin growing upon his face. "I hope you're ready…**Byakugan!**"

"**Byakugan!" **An identical call a moment later came from Neji.

Keeping their eyes on Naruto, everyone in the clearing saw as the veins protruded from around the outer edges of his eyes and temples as was expected when the Dojutsu was properly activated.

Suddenly, Naruto shot to life as his hand bolted down and grasped onto one of his tri-pronged kunai and tossed it towards the group. Though Tenten was caught momentarily off-guard from the odd shape, she immediately responded by tossing a kunai of her own at the projectile.

_Clang_

The blond's eyes widened marginally as he witnessed the noteworthy display of aim and reflexes. As a result, he shifted his gaze primarily towards Tenten, but still held them all within his peripheral vision.

Without a word he reached down and grabbed more of his kunai from the pouch before tossing them at his targets.

A moment later showed that he had tossed five separate kunai towards the group – one towards each member. Having already pulled additional kunai from her own pouch, Tenten quickly tossed them in response.

_Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang_

"Huh…to hit five separate moving targets that quickly in mid-air, well done," the blond complimented as he let his eyes fall to the various kunai on the field. He saw Gai's muscles tense up, presumably in preparation to make some sort of move against him, but wrote it off as he directed his gaze once again towards the girl who had captured his interest.

"Heh, is that the best you can do?" Neji asked somewhat cockily from the side of the group. "Any graduate could throw a kunai, that's pathetic."

He failed to notice the furrow in his female teammate's brow at that statement, as well as Gai's own.

"I doubt _any_ graduate could throw a kunai with pin-point accuracy like your teammate just did," Naruto stated defensively as he let his white eyes drift over to the teen for a moment. "I suppose that we won't get anywhere like this though. Allow me to take it up a notch."

He quickly reached down from his pouch and grabbed another kunai before tossing it, though he made a quick series of hand seals this time unlike before.

"**Kage Kunai no Jutsu!" **(Shadow Kunai Jutsu)He shouted as the single kunai he had thrown multiplied into 50 all headed towards the group.

'_No way_ _I'm going to be able to__ block that many!' _Tenten shouted inwardly as her eyes widened at how many kunai were suddenly headed directly towards them.

"Scatter!" Gai shouted before he grabbed Kakashi and flung himself backwards – Lee doing the same beside him. Neji merely elected to swerve between the kunai while Tenten quickly dove to the right to avoid the wall of projectiles.

Naruto, however, had directed his gaze towards the Hyuga who was not only foolish enough to have been separated from his Jonin sensei, but also had remained roughly in the same position.

'_I can't say that I won't enjoy this,' _he thought with a wicked grin.

Disappearing at a speed that nearly no Genin could ever follow, he appeared before the black-haired boy far too quickly for him to give any sort of reaction other than widened eyes. Even as he turned around from a twist he had made to avoid one of the shadow kunai, he spun face-first into the heel of Naruto's boot.

"**Konoha Senpu!" **(Leaf Hurricane) The blonde shouted as Neji flew back a few feet before rolling up to his feet and quickly clutching his freshly broken nose.

"Neji!" Lee called as he ran over to his side. Tenten also made her way over towards them, but she ensured to keep her sight on the blond as she did so to try to make sure she wasn't completely caught off-guard like Neji was.

However, she was saved from that worry as Gai made his presence known to everyone.

"**Dynamic Entry!" **He shouted as he tried to drop-kick the blonde only to miss and continue forward as he hit nothing but air. However, he curled into a ball and rolled to his feet smoothly as he turned around in a basic Goken stance without missing a beat despite the handful of kunai that were stuck in the ground around him.

"Guard the client! Triangle formation!" He shouted as he kept his eyes locked onto Naruto. Before he could do anything, however, said blond disappeared in a flash of yellow. His guard dropped only a moment as a result, but it was almost enough. Sensing motion to his right, he turned his gaze towards there only to swiftly bend backwards in order to avoid a debilitating strike from a black metal staff that had shallow engravings along the length. Recognizing the weapon immediately, he pushed himself away in order to try to make sense of what he just saw.

* * *

"What was _that?_" Tenten asked after witnessing Naruto suddenly appear atop one of the kunai that had been embedded into the ground earlier. She and her two teammates were currently in the standard triangle formation around Kakashi, having slipped into it effortlessly the moment Gai had commanded.

"What was what?" Kakashi asked in curiosity as he finally tore his gaze away from his book for a moment, silently thanking whatever gave him the idea to have Gai do this part for him.

"He just freaking teleported or something…and then pulled a staff out of nowhere!" The kunoichi stated with a glance to the masked Jonin to her left before returning her gaze back to the two men facing off in front of them.

"Oh, that," the silver-haired man stated as he returned to reading his book. "_That _is one of the reasons why you were sworn to secrecy before being brought here. He can teleport between markers using a technique known as the Hiraishin. The staff was merely pulled out of a sealing tattoo hidden on his right arm."

Lee was too preoccupied by the fight going on to pay attention, Neji turned his head in curiosity even as he clutched his nose tightly to try to stop the bleeding, and Tenten let her eyes widen dramatically once again as she turned towards the masked Jonin.

"The Hiraishin, are you serious?!" She whispered fiercely. Despite the fact that she would've normally found the idea of a sealing tattoo fascinating beyond all belief, she was well aware of the iconic history behind the jutsu Kakashi had mentioned.

"Mmhmm," Kakashi hummed as he flipped a page of his book lazily. "He's a genius at sealing, but he only figured out how to actually use it over the last few months. He can't use it to the same extent that the Yondaime did, but to have actually figured it out use it in combat effectively already is still nothing short of amazing."

* * *

Twirling the staff that was only roughly 3 inches in diameter and roughly 5 and a half feet in length, Naruto slammed the end of it down on the ground with a grin on his face.

"Careful Gai-sensei, I almost got you there," he stated teasingly despite the spar of sorts currently going on between the two. It was, unfortunately, a habit he had picked up from Anko over the years.

"So you did," Gai stated as his eyes darted momentarily to the kunai behind the blonde before returning to his face as he realized what had occurred. "I have to ask, however, why didn't you use the Hiraishin to move behind us when you had the chance?"

The blonde adopted a contemplative face for a moment before he spoke again, clearly having been thinking about his next words.

"I'm still a novice with the technique for the most part," he admitted after a small sigh. "I still fail when trying to teleport to moving kunai most of the time, and even then, the ones I had thrown had gotten out of my current maximum range."

"…I see," the spandex-clad Jonin said as he bent his knees a bit in preparation to jettison forward if needed. "Any other limitations?" He asked, happy to receive free information on a technique he knew little about if the blond was giving it away.

"Maybe," Naruto responded with another grin. "I'm not about to tell you anymore about it in the middle of a fight though, Gai-sensei."

Saying nothing further, the blond twisted his staff off of the ground and charged forward towards the man across from him. He lunged forward with a thrust towards his chest, but was predictably dodged as the Jonin swatted it to the side and stepped forward with a fist aimed towards his whiskered face.

Twisting to the left to avoid the punch that could easily shatter bones, Naruto transferred his staff from one arm to the other behind him in a well-versed motion and swung it at the man's legs, causing him to jettison backwards instead of jumping as many shinobi might choose to do. It was a decision that showed he was an experienced shinobi, as many people had lost their lives by taking to the air in the middle of combat.

Rushing back in immediately, Gai leveled a punch at his chest that he promptly pivoted to the right to avoid.

'_Adopting some of Anko-chan's Hebi-style into Goken really was a brilliant idea,' _the blond thought as he grabbed the end of his staff within his palm and tried to smash it into his previous sensei's cheek. Naturally, however, said man merely ducked in order to avoid taking such a blow and countered with a leg-sweep.

In response, the blond merely jumped into the air and slid his hands to the middle of his staff before thrusting it forward in quick succession towards the Jonin's face.

Gai swiftly dodged each of the attempted strikes before finally lifting his hand up and catching the end of the staff. However, the blond merely responded by letting go of the staff completely as his feet touched the ground and rushing forward in an attempt to land a punch of his own on chest of the Jonin.

However, Gai had sparred with him too often over the years to fall for one of his more common tricks. He immediately let go of the part of the staff he had grabbed and deflected the punch as he threw one of his own again.

As the blow was millimeters from landing, the blond disappeared in a flash of yellow once again. A moment later, and the staff that had been falling to the ground disappeared in a small cloud of smoke as well. Out of sheer instinct, Team 9's sensei ducked just as a feint _whoosh_ over his head indicated how close he had come to receiving a harsh blow. Spinning around since he was already low to the ground, he went for another leg-sweep just as the blond jumped back to put some space in between the two of them.

'_I think that should showcase their skills well enough,' _the blonde thought with a slightly increased heart rate after the brief exchange with the man at near his top speed. _The kunoichi obviously practices with kunai to same degree I do with Shadow Clones, meaning she's probably a weapon's specialist with a few jutsu behind her. The one dressed like Gai, based on what the group said before, is probably a Taijutsu specialist just like him. That leaves the Hyuga…but he probably doesn't have anything past normal clan techniques.' _

"I think that should be enough for the moment," Naruto said somewhat cryptically as his staff disappeared in a poof of smoke. He turned his gaze towards the rest of the group before giving them a smile, though he never let his 360 degree vision let Gai truly out of his sight.

"See you all again really soon," he stated…before making an extremely fast series of seals and disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

"Neji!" Gai called out a moment after the blond had disappeared while still in his combat stance, not willing to let it falter until he knew it was clear.

"…He's roughly fifty yards to the west talking to one of the other two," said Genin stated in a slightly nasally voice due to how he still held his nose closed. "He doesn't appear to be ready to engage us."

"Good," the Jonin stated with a small sigh as he the sore palm of his hand that caught the blond's earlier staff thrust. "Tenten, please treat Neji's nose as well as you're able to. Lee, keep on-guard, it would be most un-youthful to let one of your comrades get harmed in a moment of weakness."

"Hai, Gai-sensei!" The boy responded before he proceeded to turn his head almost mechanically in an attempt to keep watch as best as he could.

The kunoichi, meanwhile, walked towards her remaining teammate as she reached into her supply pouch and pulled out a standard first-aid kit. After moving over to Neji, she was awarded with a moment of self-satisfaction as she forcefully realigned his nose. She wouldn't normally be sadistic enough to enjoy causing pain to others, but the comment he made earlier about throwing kunai had irked her a bit more than she let on.

'_Man, Naruto must have some insane muscles to do this kind of damage,' _Tenten thought as she felt the damaged nose of her teammate. _'…Maybe he'll be willing to help me out with my technique after this is all done,' _she thought with a smile creeping up on her lips. _'It'd be nice to finally be able to talk about seals with someone for a change.' _

* * *

"So, I'll just come right out and ask, are you willing to work with me to get this done?" Naruto asked while atop a tree branch that had a slightly obscured view of the clearing despite how far away it was.

"…I can do this on my own," came the voice of Sasuke as he revealed himself entirely. "I don't need your help for this, dobe," he stated in a tone that made it obvious he didn't entirely believe what was coming out of his own mouth.

"Sasuke, you know by now that what you saw at the academy aside from team assignment day was nothing but a ruse," the blond countered in a slightly annoyed tone. "Besides, I highly doubt that you could even keep up with the speed that Gai-sensei and I were using out there."

At this, the Uchiha clenched his fists tightly as his lips declined into a bit more of a scowl than he usually wore.

"You don't understand," he whispered harshly as he returned his gaze to the group of shinobi you could _just_ make out through the trees. "I have to be able to do this alone."

"Fine then," Naruto said after a moment with a shake of his head. "However, when I launch another attack, feel free to to try to get the bells."

Before Sasuke got the chance to respond, the blond disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

"So, are you going to keep running around aimlessly looking for Sasuke, or are you willing to team up to get the bells?" Naruto asked a familiar pinkette as he reappeared next to her, causing her to jump a bit in fright.

"Baka!" She whispered fiercely after she had calmed down. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Giving her a deadpan stare for a moment, the blond merely sighed and shook his head at the thought of giving a witty retort to her comment.

"So is that a yes or…?" He asked with a circular gesture of his hand to tell her to answer quickly.

"…Is Sasuke-kun helping you?" Sakura asked after a moment. It seemed that, despite her nervousness in their current scenario, her fan-girl mindset towards the boy overruled her otherwise noteworthy intelligence.

"No," Naruto answered truthfully despite knowing what it would likely cause the pink-haired girl to do. "I asked him, but he turned me down."

'_**Cha! This could be my chance!' **_Inner-Sakura screamed within the pink-haired girl's mind, urging her to find the Uchiha.

"Then I'm going to find Sasuke-kun, he might need my help," she answered before promptly turning and walking away – shouting the boy's name in the process to try to draw him out.

'_Fucking fangirls,' _the blond Genin thought with another sigh as he ran a hand over his face. _'Fine, since they obviously won't help me with this test, I guess I'll have to take this seriously and deal with them later.' _

Reaching upwards, the blonde bit down harshly on his thumb to draw out a bit of blood. Then, after blazing through a short series of hand seals, he slammed his right palm on the ground.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" **(Summoning Jutsu) He shouted as a moderately-sized cloud of white smoke rose from the ground nearby.

* * *

Having sensed the high burst of chakra, Kakashi's visible eye widened as he closed his book and slid it into his pouch.

"Gai…" he began in an attempt to warn the man.

"I know," said man responded as his eyes darted around the clearing they were in. "Neji, you'll be with me to try to hit a few of his Tenketsu if possible. Lee and Tenten, you two guard Kakashi as best as you're able to."

"Gai-sensei," Tenten began as she pulled out some kunai and remained as alert as her instructor. "Is this guy really a Genin?"

"…Technically,yes," he responded after sparing Kakashi a quick glance. "You'll have to ask him if you want more details. Neji, can you see anyone?"

"He's walking into the clearing ahead of us, the other two are about fifty yards to the west," the Hyuga clan member responded with a voice that sounded much closer to normal than it had before thanks to Tenten's efforts. "It's…odd though. His staff seems almost like it has a chakra network of its own."

Just as Gai opened his mouth to warn of exactly _what_ that staff could do, however, he was interrupted by a warning from Neji.

"Jutsu!" The boy shouted before settling into a defensive stance.

However, much to everyone but Gai and Kakashi's surprise, the only thing that happened is a thick cloud of ash coming from the direction he was located.

* * *

Still breathing out smoke from his **Katon: Haisekisho **(Fire Style: Burning Ash Pile), the blond ran through another set of hand seals even with a nearly identical staff to his previous one off to his side standing upright unnaturally without support.

'_**Futon: Daitoppa,' **_(Wind Style: Great Breakthrough) Naruto thought as a weak gust of wind blew forward from behind him and moved the cloud of ash forward substantially.

'_I'm really going to have to think of another way to do this after I finally get to hone my wind affinity more,' _he thought as he witnessed his cloud of smoke traveling far further than it would have otherwise. _'This is far too useful of a combination to just lose.' _

Seeing that the cloud of ash had made its way into the middle of the clearing, however, he clicked the hidden flint he had in his teeth to create a spark.

_BOOM!_

Immediately releasing the stream of ash after lighting it ablaze, he grabbed the upright staff to his right and dashed forward with his Byakugan still active.

'_They obviously wouldn't stay still for that since Gai-sensei knows that trick…where are they?' _He asked himself as his eyes gazed through the steam and dust that replaced the giant cloud of chakra that had obscured his Byakugan's vision beforehand. Finally, after noting that they had taken to the tree tops, he grinned as he set the staff upright again as he ran through a long series of hand seals. However, he didn't miss the small eye that formed on the staff and stared at him in annoyance during it.

'_**Yoton: Yodan no Jutsu!' **_(Lava Style: Lava Bullet Jutsu) Naruto thought as his cheeks expanded after feeling a familiar burning sensation rise slowly up to his throat. A moment later, he spat out what more closely related to a glob of lava rather than a bullet towards the tree that the group was standing atop of.

"Lava? Is that freakin' lava?!" He heard a female voice scream as he watched the group jump over to the next tree as the trunk of their previous perch quickly caught fire.

Before he could follow up with another glob to inevitably burn that tree down as well, he saw Gai jump towards him at impressive speed and Neji following after him as best as he was able to. Not wasting a moment, he picked up his staff even as Gai used one of his favorite abilities.

"Dynamic Entry!"The man shouted at the top of his lungs as he aimed to hit the blond's face with a drop kick. However, much like the last time, Naruto merely side-stepped and let the man pass over him before turning to face him. The Jonin quickly turned to face him as well even as his Genin took a spot directly behind Naruto.

"Extend," Naruto commanded as he tapped a finger along the metal towards his back to indicate which direction to do so in. Within half a second of giving the command, the back of his staff jettisoned towards the Hyuga who allowed his eyes to widen in shock.

Thanks to Gai's quick and soft-spoken warning he had given when they had retreated into the trees, Neji had been expecting the extension itself. However, despite expecting the action, he wasn't expecting the speed at which it occurred. As he pivoted to the side, the staff still clipped his shoulder harshly, resulting in a loud _crack_.

"Retract," the blond stated upon seeing what had occurred with his 360 degree vision along with hearing the brief cry of pain the teen gave as he now held onto his injured shoulder. The staff obeyed immediately, retracting to the length his normal staff would be.

Despite his concern for his student at that moment, Gai kept his eyes locked onto Naruto for the time being. It might have been considered harsh for a training exercise, but he wanted his team to get a taste of what to expect in something like the Chunin Exams. A skilled opponent that could injure you incredibly easily or even kill you if you weren't careful was a _very_ common occurrence. Knowing what Naruto was capable of, a part of him was incredibly thankful that Kakashi had chosen his team. Hopefully this would better prepare them for the future.

"A surprise attack?! MOST UN-YOUTHFUL!" The blond heard Lee yell from the trees as he deflected a series of kunai thrown at him with one of his own.

'_Hm, seems Sasuke decided to take his chance,' _Naruto thought as he distinctly saw the Uchiha in the trees where Lee was running. _'I wonder if Sak-' _

"You'll have to do better than that, Pinky!" He heard Tenten yell as the sound of more kunai clanging off one another filled the clearing.

'_Seems so,' _he thought with a smile as he focused entirely on Gai and Neji once again. _'I guess it's time to try to bring this to an end then.' _

Leaning back, he grabbed the end of his staff before throwing it much like a javelin towards the Jonin in front of him, getting slightly widened eyes from beneath the man's incredibly bushy eyebrows.

"Expand!" He shouted as he jettisoned forward after the staff.

The staff then immediately expanded immensely to the point that it would be incredibly difficult for anyone to wield efficiently. It served in making it substantially heavier and covering a much wider area than the previous version had, though it caused it to slow down in mid-air as a result. Though it wasn't by much, it was enough to allow Gai to duck under the make-shift projectile.

However, this was what Naruto had expected. Coming up immediately after the staff had passed, he aimed a kick directly towards the Jonin's face with his shin-guard. Much to his ire, though, Gai merely raised a hand and struck his incoming leg with it – effectively nullifying both blows.

'_He's still so much stronger than me that it's ridiculous,' _Naruto thought with a grimace as he pivoted quickly to his left to dodge a fist the man had quickly tried to uppercut him with. _'If he actually opened a few gates, I'd be so screwed.' _

"Nice try, Naruto," Gai commented as he slid off to the side to be able to keep an eye on both the staff and the blond. "You'll have to do better than that to catch me off-guard."

At this, the whiskered teen grinned before letting out a chuckle – something that made Gai quite nervous.

"I've already won, Gai-sensei," he said simply as the staff he had thrown was suddenly covered in a cloud of smoke. A moment later, and an armor-clad figure jumped out of the smoke while bringing down a large, wooden bo-staff upon the Jonin's figure.

Gai shot himself back, knowing first-hand how much blocking one of those blows can hurt, as the staff smashed into the ground and brought up a cloud of dust. His eyes narrowed as he took in the form of a large, heavily-muscled monkey,

The monkey stood at roughly 6 and a half feet tall and wore a pair of spiked bracers that traveled from his wrists to his elbows. Atop his left shoulder sat a detailed shoulder-guard, while the right held a simple pad that provided protection while allowing better movement – both of which were secured with leather straps across his otherwise bared chest. The creature also wore a pair of loose-fitting black pants with a pair metal claws resting over his feet to inflict more damage with his kicks.

Perhaps more intimidating than even his appearance, however, were the ominously glowing yellow eyes. There was no pupil evident within said eyes, which made his stare incredibly fear-inducing to most people. A small jewel within the center of the yellow straps across his chest also shared the same yellow glow along with a small jewel in his shoulder-guard.

"Gai…nice to see you again," the creature stated in a deep voice as he leaned forward on his left fist and held his staff with his right.

"Wukong," the man responded with a slight incline of his head as he slid further into his stance…right before his eyes widened and he quickly turned to get vision on the blond. Despite being a relatively rookie mistake, his attention had been fully grabbed when he had to dodge the creature's initial entry.

"The exercise is over!" Kakashi's voice resounded throughout the clearing as Gai looked up into the tree to see Naruto holding two bells up in the air.

"Thanks for the help Wu!" Naruto called out as he turned his gaze onto his familiar. "You can go home now if you'd like!"

"Hn," the monkey grunted as he turned his gaze from his summoner back to the green-clad man in front of him. "Another time then, Gai," he stated before he promptly disappeared in another plume of smoke.

'_I can't believe I got distracted so easily,' t_he spandex-clad Jonin thought as tears ran comically down his cheeks. _'As punishment, I will do 250 laps around Konoha…on my hands!' _

* * *

**(5 minute later)**

The two teams found themselves together at the training dummies. Each member of the possible Team 7 stood before one of the wooden targets with Kakashi in front of them and Team 9 in behind him. Though they could have left, Gai elected to let them listen in to Kakashi's inevitable speech. He doubted that he could word this particular lesson better than his rival could anyway.

"So," Kakashi stated as he glanced towards the blond who currently held the bells. "Have you decided who gets a bell, Naruto?"

Glancing towards the _heavily_ bruised form of Sasuke who was nursing a moderately injured wrist and the heavily cut-up form of Sakura, he silently tossed a bell at each of them. Though he, Kakashi, and Gai all understood the meaning, it was clear that no other Genin did.

"Interesting choice," the masked Jonin commented as he looked at the blond neutrally while the two other members of his possible team looked at him in confusion. "Care to explain?"

"It was a test of teamwork," Naruto stated as he locked eyes with both Sakura and Sasuke. "Normally, Kakashi would test this himself, but he decided to mix things up a bit by involving a Jonin roughly of equal skill and their Genin squad. Not only does it make things tougher, but it's a bit more realistic as well since enemies rarely work completely alone."

"No Genin is expected to take down a Jonin single-handedly," he continued with a chuckle. "That would be absolutely absurd…at least in most circumstances," he corrected as he thought of himself. "We were supposed to work together in order to get the bells, which we arguably did in a roundabout way."

"But there were only two bells," Sakura stated in a moment of confusion as she looked towards the Jonin.

"A scenario that's meant to mimic sacrificing yourself for the good of the mission or team," the blond answered before Kakashi had the chance.

"Correct," Kakashi stated with a nod at the blond's words. "The bells are meant to be a test to see what you would do in a scenario where you couldn't all succeed. You may one day find yourself in an impossible scenario in a mission, and be made to choose between the mission or one of your comrade's lives. If there's one lesson that I could make sure you all learn…it's this."

Closing his visible eye as he recalled his old teammate's words to him.

"In the world of shinobi, rules and regulations will tell you to complete the mission no matter the cost. Those who break those rules are called scum, however…" he continued as he opened his visible eye and spared a glance to the three teens in front of him. "…Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

Hearing the renowned shinobi's words, Sasuke turned his gaze towards the bell sitting on the grass in front of him.

'_I should have listened to the dobe,' _he thought with an inward scoff as he glanced towards the blond. _'It feels wrong to pass like this…' _

Without thinking, the Uchiha grabbed the bell and tossed it back towards Naruto, causing all of the eyes in the clearing to fall upon him.

"You're the only one that deserves to pass," he stated simply as he let out a sigh at the thought of being held back in the academy for another year.

Sakura, meanwhile, had been staring at her own bell with guilt wreaking havoc on her. Seeing Sasuke, the one who had likely put up a far better fight than her, give up his chance of passing only made it worse.

'_He deserves to pass,' _she thought as she remembered how the kunoichi on the other team had terrified her merely by throwing kunai and shuriken at her. _'I'd be separated from Sasuke-kun…but maybe he'd think a little better of me this way.' _

Reaching forward, she grabbed her own bell and rolled it over to her teammate's feat, causing the eyes in the clearing to turn to her instead of the Uchiha.

"You deserve to pass more than I do, Sasuke-kun," she stated with a fake smile towards the teen. "If anyone should go back, it's me."

While Gai and Lee were crying in the background at the 'youthful display of companionship,' Kakashi merely let a smile grow under his mask as he stared at each of the teens in front of him.

"Are you sure about this, Sakura?" He asked as he turned towards the pinkette.

"…Yeah," she stated with a small sniffle before turning her gaze up towards the man. "I wouldn't want either of them to have to go back because of me."

"Well then, I just have one thing to say to all of you," he said with an even wider smile than before – one that completely reached his visible eye this time.

"You pass."

* * *

**And finished, I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 2.**

**First of all, I'd like to say that I know Anko's confession may feel a bit rushed. However, keep in mind that there's 3 years of currently undetailed interaction between the two of them. Despite not having seen his face, the feelings were still there. I intend to touch upon their past interaction as the story moves along, so hopefully it will make more sense as the story progresses. I know she probably still comes across as soft, but this is my portrayal of her character in private with someone she has come to trust. If you absolutely detest it, then this probably isn't the story for you.**

**Yes, I had Naruto write his own novel. It's not an original idea, but I still like it nonetheless. Why he wrote it will be explained later. **

**Yoton is Naruto's Bloodline. I'll bring up how that's possible hopefully in the next chapter. I've also touched upon the constraints of Hiraishin at the moment, though it's worth noting that I obviously intend to make those go away over time as he uses it. There's also one other constraint on the ability at the moment that I'll bring up next chapter. Sorry, I just couldn't find a way to validate stating all of it in this one burst during the fighting. **

**Wukong is the crossover character I spoke of at the top. The gear he wore, for the most part, is taken from his General Wukong skin if you want to look it up to get a better visual. **

**Now, the harem. After handling **_**numerous**_** PM's regarding who's in it, I'm just going to confirm the current plan. If you don't want it spoiled, then stop reading here. **

**Anko, Hinata, Tenten, Temari, Tsunade (after an age reduction), and Mei (slightly younger) are all guaranteed to be included. I've given these 6 substantial amounts of thought and have a rough idea of how to include them. Now, this leaves room for 1 other woman according to the limit I set for myself at the start. Now, I'm currently torn between two girls to fill that last slot. So, the question is: **

**Ino or Fu?**

**Since I'm somewhat indecisive about the issue, I'm going to open up a poll to let you all decide. You'll have around 2 months or so to decide before I close it. **

**See you all next time. **


End file.
